


Reminisce Rumours

by TrashcanQueen78



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: AU, All Boys School, All bromo, Bisexual Levi, Eren and Mikasa are siblings, Eventual smut maybe?????, Fluff, Gay Eren, High School AU, Isabel/Farlan/Levi are siblings, M/M, NZ school system, No Homo, Rumours, Ymir and Krista are dating, all homo, ereri, riren - Freeform, slow-burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-31
Updated: 2019-05-14
Packaged: 2019-06-19 07:14:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 47
Words: 139,428
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15505155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TrashcanQueen78/pseuds/TrashcanQueen78
Summary: After seriously pissing off his teacher and being sent off on an errand, Eren is delivering a note to a fellow teacher when he finds an unfamiliar boy standing at the door. After walking away Eren thinks he'll never see him again and lets him fade away from his mind. Until he meets him again.Eren and Levi continue to grow their friendship until one day they're caught in a situation that looks very different from the outside than it is on the inside. Going to an all boys high school with teenagers who have nothing better to do, rumours begin to spread about the two. But Eren and Levi decide to have a bit of fun on their own with these rumours.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is all written in New Zealand school system because I have no idea how anywhere else works and I can't be bothered researching it all. In NZ instead of grade (number) we just go up in the years we've been at school. We have Primary which is year 1-year 6, Intermediate is year 7-8, High school from year 9-year 13 and then finally University is anything after you leave school. NCEA is like our national school system which is when we start exams and it's important and stuff and applies to year 11-13. We have these things called credits where for each internal (assessment like e.g writing a piece of formal writing for English or doing a practical for Chemistry) and external (exam) you pass you get credits and depending on what year you're in you need a certain amount of credits to pass the year. So I think that's it, that's the school system being used even though it's not all that important, just don't want people being confused. 
> 
> I was in a massive writing slump and decided to start writing this. Anyways, I'm ascending to the final stage of fan-fiction trash and Idk if anyone will read this but enjoy if you are :)

Chapter 1.

 

Eren chucked his pencil over at Connie, who ducked efficiently. It rebounded off the desk, clattering to the ground. Mrs Tinsely whirled around, whiteboard pen raised ready to throw it, seemingly. Eren laughed, finding the whole situation hilarious. He stifled his laugh, sitting back down in his crappy, probably twenty-year-old seat. The teacher turned back around, continuing to write up equations on the board. Connie peeked up from under his eyebrows, wriggling them. Eren threw his rubber next, causing Connie to intensify his actions. Armin leaned over and whispered to Eren. 

"Can you please just at least wait until miss has finished writing them up? It's getting really annoying and I don't particularly fancy being threatened by a nearly empty whiteboard pen." Eren roared in return, slamming a hand on the desk while Connie managed to keep it contained to a slight, small snicker. That was it for Mrs Tinsely however, as she once again turned to the students she had the absolute pleasure of teaching. 

"You two, shut it. I've had enough and if you carry on, I'll have to move poor old Armin to an empty desk by himself." Eren and Connie immediately shut up, lowering their heads to their books. They didn't care what happened to them or each other, but Armin was a different story. Mrs Tinsely has somehow figured out that Armin wasn't the best in social situations with people he didn't know, so using him as a threat was pretty effective on his two friends. The panic quickly faded from Armin's eyes, and he smiled thankfully at his friends for being reasonable. With miss convinced she'd settled the problem and had turned around, Eren saw this as a perfect opportunity to slip out his phone and text his sister, Mikasa. 

Hey, do you have much homework after school? I don't know if Sasha's told you, but her Connie and I are going to town after school if you wanna come. No pressure, but it'll be totally awesome and you will be sorrily missed. 

Eren didn't have to wait long for a reply. Typical Mikasa.

Do your work, Eren.

Yes, I'll come. 

Eren smiled, putting his phone away. Sometimes Eren wished he didn't go to an all boys so that he could talk to Mikasa in person. She was refreshing to have around.

Another ten minutes passed, and Eren couldn't concentrate on the questions up on the board. It wasn't that he was mad at maths, he just didn't really like it all that much. Armin always went on about how it's all 'a new language, a new code' but Eren had never found either of those things very interesting, so naturally, maths didn't fall under things that Eren enjoyed so much he'd concentrate in class for.

He stole a glance over at Connie to see that he was drawing a stick figure with some weird shape on its face. Underneath the masterpiece was a scribbled mess of words and underlined. Asshat. Eren snorted, gaining Connie's immediate attention. He smiled wickedly, turning the paper to give Eren a better view of the drawing. Eren smiled, and pointed to his friend mouthing 'You'. Connie scoffed, returning the gesture. Connie then decided that he had to one-up Eren, and gestured to his lower regions and then pointing to his head. Dickhead. The two stared at each other for a long while, not saying anything, bearly breathing. And then at the same time, the two jumped up and Connie bolted. He ran around the class, Eren bounding after him. The two laughed and squealed, Eren getting closer and closer every second. At this point, everyone was watching, even Armin who had a horrified look on his face. Clearly, he thought that the teacher's threat still stood. 

Luckily for Armin, she decided to just address Eren. 

"Eren Jaeger. Come here." A Mexican wave of 'oohs' traveled around the room, and Eren stopped chasing Connie, shoving him however as he walked past. 

"Yes, miss?"

"I want you to take this note to room A223, okay? Take your time too." She muttered the last bit. As she was frantically writing the note, Eren stuck out his tongue at Connie with his middle fingers raised. Connie returned it, quickly finishing when the teacher looked up again. Eren sauntered out of the room, taking his teachers advice and taking a very long detour. He moved up the stairs to the third floor, walked all along the empty hallway and back up to the fourth floor, finally taking a left stairway leading into the last floor. 'Realizing' that he had walked to close to the bottom floor, Eren returned to walk along the hall of the second floor. He looked back at the note, squinting. Mr Taylor, room A223. He'd never been to this room, with no surprises. While the top floor and some of the third floor was dedicated to the maths classes, the rest of the building was designated for the science classes. Well, the more dangerous ones. Classes like Biology and earth science resided in C block. Eren never had a knack for classes like physics and chemistry, they always had too much maths in them.

Eren eventually did find the door and walked up to it. Even walking along the hall from a distance, Eren could see that someone was leaning up against the door, a student. As he came closer, Eren could see who it was. Well, what they looked like anyway. Eren had seen this person around someones, he was in his year, but he was more like one of those people who you rarely saw because they were holed up in their tutor class 90% of the time and they didn't take any of the subjects you did. Eren took in the dark hair and the short stature, but couldn't be bothered noticing anything else. Eren looked around, seeing if there was any teacher around. Maybe he got in trouble and the teacher sent him out? As much as Eren liked joking about how Armin was so socially awkward, it didn't mean that Eren was an expert on the matter. Eventually, Eren came upon the stranger.

"Uh, hey. Is this A223?" The students looked at Eren for a moment before stepping aside to reveal the label on the door confirming that he had the right class. Eren nodded, looking around feeling the awkwardness building up in the atmosphere. 

"So, what did you do to get kicked out?" Eren joked, resorting to humour. The kid snorted, taking notice of Eren once more. 

"Mr went to grab something from the printer and I'm waiting here because I've gotta gap it once he gives me the sheet." It was then that Eren realized the teenager had a bag at his side, leaning against his leg. Eren nodded again. 

"Cool, well could you please just give him this note when he comes back? It's from Mrs Tinsely."

"Yeah, sure." Eren smiling, handing over his only means of escape from maths. 

"Thanks." Once the exchange was completed, Eren began walking away. He checked the time on a clock as he passed an open-doored classroom. 1:20. Perfect, ten minutes left. He didn't bother detouring the class, as miss just gave up teaching the class and it winded down to the last five minutes or so. Eren entered the class, a shit-eating grin already plastered on his face. The teacher didn't even bother acknowledging him, not that Eren cared. Eren was back and ready to raise hell upon Connie, a devilish grin taking over his face. Needless to say, the student in from of the class disappearing from his mind completely.


	2. The threatening laptop

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren and his friends hang out in town- Sasha has some fun with sexuality jokes and Mikasa attempts to hit Eren over the head with a laptop. Enjoy :)

Eren tried his best to batter Sasha away in order to prevent her from shoving salty fries down his throat, but to no avail. He laughed, letting the chip fall to the ground. Sasha pouted, looking longingly at the fallen food. If Eren didn't know any better, he'd say that Sasha was actually about to cry. Eren patted Sasha's shoulder, telling her that it was in a better place now and that the ants and birds could now feed on it. She rolled her eyes with a laugh and friendly bumped into him.

Eren looked around, hoping to see his three other friends who had come along to their little annual hang out. Poor Armin had somehow got himself hopelessly lost, he wasn't able to find out where his friends were. So, Mikasa and Connie took it upon themselves to try and hunt him down, leaving Eren and Sasha to try and entertain themselves. Sasha also appeared to be looking around, but for a very different reason. She nudged him, pointing at a tall-ish figure in the distance, not too far away from where they sat.

"Hey, look, it's a big 'ol mucho man!" Eren cackled in return, shaking his head.

"I appreciate the help Sasha, but-"

"No, seriously look! He's super hot. Search your feelings, you know it to be true." Sasha added the whole hand gesture from the signature Star Wars. Eren merely pushed her hands away. Eren was a girlfriend virgin- and a boyfriend at that as well, but the point was that he'd never had a partner before, had never had any sort of relationship before aside from friendships. Because Eren had never shown any interest in girls, Sasha always found it hilarious to make jokes about he was gay. Not that she actually thought that, of course, but it was still fun to joke about. It was like their thing. And now, Sasha was having the time of her life.

"Sasha-"

"Go on, I dare you to go up and tell him that you think he's hot." Eren squinted to get a better view of the stranger, only to discover that it wasn't a stranger afterall.

But rather, a complete asshole. A horse by the name Jean.

Upon realizing who it was and the facial expression that took over his face, Sasha burst into laughter. She was no stranger to the disliking between the two boys. It wasn't that they hated each other, it was just that after Jean stole Eren's seat numerous times back in year nine they'd never really been able to agree on anything.

Just as Eren was about to tell Sasha that there was no fucking way he'd do it, a certain blonde coconut appeared from around the bend of a corner with Connie and Mikasa both by his side. They waved, quickly approaching. Their greetings didn't need to last long, of course.

"Hey, I'm trying to get Eren to tell that guy over there he's hot, you guys in on it?" Armin and Mikasa turned around while Connie just collapsed in a heap of laughter. When Armin turned back, he had a confused- an almost concerned frown, on his face. He gestured to the teen behind them.

"Who, you mean Jean?" Eren nodded miserably, attempting to hide his face. Mikasa laughed, and soon Armin joined in so that all four of his oh so loyal friends were piles loaded up onto the concrete.

"Do it!" Connie managed to get out, clutching his stomach. "He'll be so confused."

"Oh, yeah, sure. Think about the reaction but not the guy who has to do it." Muttered Eren, who had now folded his arms with a huff. It took a lot of coaxing, but eventually, Eren was convinced (or was it guilt-tripped?) into walking up to Jean in order to tell him that he thinks he's hot. It was a challenge, a means of his honour and how far he was willing to go. It was a challenge he would not fail. Eren breathed in and out, hoping that the whole situation wouldn't end up going south. He took a deep breath, and once he had reached Jean, he slid an arm over his shoulders. Jean whipped around, eyes wide. That didn't last long, as he pulled away roughly and his face transformed into a hearty scowl.

"What the fuck, Jaeger?"

"I just wanted to say that... those are quite the biceps, aren't they?" Eren blinked innocently, trying to put on his best flirtatious smile. Jean didn't buy it, however, and just rolled his eyes.

"Fuck off." Eren did his best to hide his laughter as his chirped over his shoulder,

"Nice work, hot stuff!" Connie, Sasha and Mikasa had already really charming. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Uuuhh I ate WAY too much, Mikasa why did you even let me?"

"I told you to keep your hands off but you wouldn't listen to me, or couldn't more like it."

"Whatever." Eren rolled his eyes, leaning closer to the laptop.

"Would you guys please stop complaining to each other? I feel like a third wheel over here." Armin huffed, clearly feeling separated from them on the other side of the screen.

"Shut it coconut, we didn't video chat you to hear you start complaining about your loneliness." Eren laughed. 

"Don't mind Eren, he's just grouchy because he knows that he's going to be hungry later and be mad at himself that he didn't keep some of the food on his plate for later.

"Mikasa you-"

"Shut up, Eren. Anyway, Armin, wasn't there something you wanted to ask us before?" Armin's face lit up. He clapped his hands together and rubbed his hands. 

"Right! Perfect time thank you Mikasa. Although, it's just for you Eren. Sorry Mikasa, unless you wanna come to be a boy for a day."

"How is seven at night the perfect time-" Mikasa elbowed her brother in the ribs to stop his mumbling.

"All goods, carry on. Eren'll be happy to help you."

"So, you guys know that I really want to go for prefect next year, and you know I just generally want stuff that will look good and give me experience, so I figured that I wanna join the SCAT team. I've been thinking about it since year 10 and I think it will be really good."

"That's great Armin, is there anything stopping you?"

"Nothing aside from the fact I am socially awkward and I really don't want to go alone. Will you come with me please Eren?" 

"Wait, isn't that the thing where you get out on Wednesday lunchtimes and you can go leave school and shit and you get all these cool responsibilities and stuff?"

"Don't forget the cool badge." Mikasa cut in.

"Yeah, it's all that stuff. But, erm, sorry Eren, I don't think you'll be able to get in if you're wanting to-"

"No, no. I don't think that I'd even be able to do any of the stuff you have to do. I'll come with you though, don't worry." Armin sighed in relief.

"Thank you, Eren. It means a lot."

"All goods."

"Hey look, I've gotta go now but I'll talk to you guys tomorrow. See you." Ern and Mikasa said their goodbyes in unison, waving as they watched Armin reach out to click on the end call button. 

They, as usual, sat in silence for a few moments before Eren spoke.

"Heyyy Mikasa...."

"Yes, Eren?"

"I'm hungry." 

Eren ducked as the laptop swooped lazily over his head.


	3. Eren the anti-toastie assholi

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren and the stranger meet yet again, but not in the most ideal way.

"Eren, I told you, I didn't cheat! How could I, it was a practical internal?" Jean barked, Eren smirking while Marco was trying his best not to let his giggle slip past. 

"Look, I'm just saying that there's no way you would be able to pass that internal, even Armin found it hard. Right, Armin?"

"Well-"

"Oh yeah? Well, I bet that you couldn't fucking do it."

"Yeah, well, I bet-"

"Would you two just stop it already, it is way too early and I haven't even done my homework for period one." Thomas groaned from the other side of the room. Eren and Jean mumbled their apologies while glaring at each other slightly. Jean wasn't finished though.

"How did you even stay in extension? Hell, how did you even get into extension?" Eren huffed, turning away. He almost didn't stay in extension. He was actually pretty smart in intermediate thanks to being in the same class as Mikasa for one year and both her and Armin in the other year, meaning that he was able to scratch his way into the year nine extension class. Then, he did so poorly thanks to having distracting Connie in his class that if it weren't for the tutoring forced upon him by Mikasa and Armin, he would have been kicked out fo year ten. But the universe did seem to have another plan for him and his maths test saved him, although sometimes he wished that he didn't do so well on that test. 

"What are guys doing in here? We have assembly!" Mr Taylor walked into the class, and his announcement made the entire class groan. There was an abundance of 'Mr, please no' and 'Do we have to's.'

"No, I don't wanna hear any of this."

"Can't we go next week." Connie piped up loudly, and you'd think that he was trying to form a revolution with the response from his classmates that he got.

"No, that's it. Come on, I didn't make you go all the time last year but his year is an important one for you all, so we have to be on our best behaviour. Now come on." Groaning still, everyone hopped up from their seats and took their bags with them. Down the stairs they all walked, not bothering to be quiet. In an all-boys school, however, what else would you expect other than the volume on high at every moment?

Eventually, the class arrived at the hall, although it seemed that all the other classes had the same idea of not being on time. There were rows and rows and rows of classes moving into the hall, ready to sit for the next 20 minutes listening to the staff and fellow students speak about things that nobody actually cared about. 

He turned to his side to make a comment to Connie, but his heart jolted when he realized that his friend wasn't there. He looked to the side and Armin wasn't there either, nor anyone else he regularly talked to. Great. He sighed, standing with his arms folded. He hated this, and not to mention it was on Monday mornings that he had to go through this bullshit every single damn week. He spotted Connie up ahead, talking to someone who obviously belonged to another class. Armin Jean and Marco had been separated but didn't seem to mind. It happened a lot, after all. 

Eren' eyes began to wander, looking around the old hall. It was so old that Eren wondered if it was older than even himself. Who was he kidding, of course, it was. Eren's eyes were just taking a leisurely stroll around the room at this point when they fell on a familiar pair of eyes.

Or rather, a complete stranger's eyes, but a pair of eyes that he had indeed seen before. 

He hadn't taken any notice to the boy from the previous week when Eren had been sent to deliver a note to that class, but there was no way he couldn't remember him. Having nothing else to do, Eren studied him a bit more closely. He had an undercut which was so black Eren suspected that it as possibly dyed, he was short but not incredibly short, and he still had the total gothic look he'd had when Eren first saw him. Or maybe gothic wasn't the right word, but it was definitely rebellious how he had two piercings in his left ear. 

Eren was so distracted by his looks and his boredom that Eren didn't notice when the stranger made eye contact. It was still even a moment until the brunette did notice, and when he did his face heated up in slight embarrassment. It was obvious that he'd been caught staring. Now, he wasn't as socially awkward as Armin, but he certainly wasn't an expert. So, to try and make the situation less awkward, Eren sent over one of his signature smiles and waved. They were both only slight, but really, that was all they needed to be for a small acknowledgement right?

The boy just looked at Eren or a moment no recognition or familiarity in his face at all. Eren was about to smile again or wave or do something when the stranger turned away. He just simply turned, not even nodding or smiling or waving back. If Eren wasn't red before then he certainly was now. Not quite with just humiliation though, but with a bit of anger sprinkled on top. God, how embarrassing. 

"What a rude guy." Eren huffed, also looking away. He looked down, his hands suddenly becoming the most interesting thing in the room. The lines began moving suddenly, and soon enough Eren was reunited with his friends as they each took their seats. Connie sat on one side while Armin was placed on the other, while Marco and Jean had gotten stuff in the row in front. Eren wasn't focusing on his friends, however, not even with Connie started talking to Eren about what would happen if someone fell off the stage or if someone just ran into the hall with a knife at that moment. Instead, Eren's attention was on the strange, asshole Raven. His attention remained held for the rest of the assembly.

Whilst Eren watched as someone walked up onto the stage his eyes fell upon the guy, and ever since then he had been constantly looking over all throughout the twenty minutes they had to sit in their agonizing seats. He was on the end seat of the row so he couldn't see who he was sitting with very well, but Eren assumed he wasn't alone. He also couldn't see any TT teacher around, and he didn't recognise anyone else so he had no idea what the tutor class was. Eren's mind kept flickering back to how Levi had just completely dismissed Eren. Who does that?

Also, to be fair, they had only talked once and it was only for a minute. Maybe he really didn't recognise Eren, and if that was the case then really the dude was the victim for being waved at by a total stranger. Eren sighed to himself, looking up at the stage again. Whoever this guy was, he was either a complete asshole or just had a really bad memory. Why it bothered him so much, he had no idea.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"So how long does this last?" Eren asked, readjusting his strap over his shoulder. He eyed up the classroom door in front of it, noticing that he didn't think he'd ever actually been to this entire block before. 

"I'm not sure, fifteen minutes maybe? You don't have to come in, you don't have to stay either if you really don't want to-"

"Dude, Armin, chill. I don't mind waiting I was just asking." Eren said, holding up a hand. Armin seemed to sigh in relief.

"Thanks, Eren."

"No problem. Who else is coming, anyone, you know?"

"Well-" Suddenly the door leading into the block burst open with a loud shout coming from whoever created the commotion.

"I'M SO EXCITED!!! I'VE BEEN DREAMING OF THIS FOREVER!" When Eren turned around to see who it was, he wasn't surprised to see who it was. Hanji. The Hanji, the female, who had decided to attend an all-boys school despite her gender simply because the science classes were better than any other schools. Of course, she'd gotten shit for it at first, but then it grew obvious that she mas well be a guy, and after that, the whispering and glances stopped and everyone finally left her alone. Eren was just impressed with the guts she had to go to an all-boys school. Who would even subject themself to that in the first place?

Of course, she's super smart, which means that there was no doubt she'd be wanting to go for the SCAT team as well, and no doubt she'd get in.

"Did you know she was coming?" Eren whispered to Armin, although she probably wouldn't hear him even if he did speak normally. She was yelling herself, afterall.

"I suspected, but I didn't know for sure," Armin whispered back, looking slightly terrified. Poor poor Armin, the boy who would be stuck with someone who was possibly the most social person to ever exist. 

Eren then spotted that she was flanked by two other boys. The first one Eren noticed was a tall boy, who again, was someone you'd see around school but didn't really know due to different classes and holing himself in their TT. His most prominent feature, of course, was his eyebrows, and his blinding yellow-blonde hair. Not to mention, he was super tall, even taller than Hanji. Once Eren had taken in everything, he moved onto the second guy.

The second guy being, to Eren's endless dismay, the boy from earlier that morning and from the previous week. 

Eren swore to himself silently, not loud enough for Armin to hear. Eren averted his eyes quickly, focusing on anything other than the group of people in front of him. Yes, he was embarrassed, but that was normal, wasn't it? And besides, why would you want to socialise with an asshole anyway? If that was the case.

When Hanji caught sight of Armin and Eren, she smiled and waved more than what was probably necessary.

"Hey, Armin! I didn't expect to see you here."

"O-oh, well-"

"Oh, who am I kidding, of course I did! I overheard you talking about it with some freckled Jesus looking guy."

"Freckled Jesus-" Armin was cut off as Haji threw herself at him, making him yelp in surprise. Needless to say, Eren took a step back out of fear that he'd be next.

"This is so exciting! I've even brought Erwin with me because he wanted to check it out. And of course, Levi didn't want to be left behind like some abandoned lost puppy so he's here as well." Hanji was always so chirpy, Eren could never understand it. He looked over to the blonde, and instantly he could tell that he was Erwin. He looked like the typical guy who would go or the scat team. Levi on the other hand...

It was nice to finally know his name and not have to refer to him as 'that guy' Eren noted, making sure that he wouldn't forget his name. It was possible that he may forget his face, however, with how hard he was trying to avoid looking at it face in fear of making awkward eye contact.

"Well, what are we waiting for then?" Armin said with an awkward smile, opening the door. Hanji said nothing, only beamed and bunded into the class after him. Erwin hurried in with them, leaving Eren and Levi to stand together outside of the door. Shit. What did he do? What did he say? What was he supposed to do in this situation? 

Ere took a deep breath. What could be the worst case scenario? Levi probably just didn't recognise Eren, or maybe he didn't even see Eren. Smiling, Eren swallowed his earlier feelings of embarrassment and faced Levi.

"Fancy seeing you here." He joked, not faking any of it. He did often find his own jokes funny, even if everyone else thought otherwise. 

"Yeah." This seemed to be one of those times when not everyone found it funny. Levi didn't have a hint of humour in his voice or face at all, and he didn't seem to be the one to ever be in a joking mood either. Eren decided to try and give it another shot.

"I saw you in assembly this morning. It was really boring, aye? I mean, not any more boring than usual but you know."

"Yeah I know, I saw you too. I suppose it wasn't that bad. But I'm really sick of seeing year nines up on the stage to walk about stupid shit for just the juniors, like can't they just wait for the junior assemblies?" 

Eren blinked once, then twice. He'd seen him too? What, so did that mean that he didn't ignore Eren? If he was staring right at him while Eren was also waving and smiling, then obviously he had ignored him. God, how had he been so stupid? Fuck what the fuck is with this guy? Not that he was going to say anything, of course. This was too awkward of a situation for that. Did this mean that he knew that Eren knew that he was ignoring him? I am overthinking this way too much. They stood there in silence for about five minutes when Levi finally gave in and sighed. He picked up his bag next to him and slung it over his back. Eren raise a brow but didn't say anything.

"I can't be bothered standing here waiting forever. I mean, it's not like I'm getting any fucking younger standing here. I'm gonna go to the canteen real quick."

"Cool," Eren said, trying not to show his slight disappointment. Sure it was awkward standing in silence for so long, but it was better than standing there along outside of a class looking dodgy.

"You wanna come?" Eren was taken aback by the offer, not quite knowing how to feel or what to stay. He'd only just learnt this guys name and they'd just had a super long awkward silence, was it even appropriate to say yes? Hell, was it even appropriate for Levi to even ask him? 

"Um, yeah, sure. Why not?' Eren shrugged his shoulders, really not in the mood for having to stand alone in a cold empty hallway. Levi didn't say anything else as he and Eren made their way out of the building, and across a little way across the school to reach the canteen. Levi stood in the actual line while Eren just sort of stood on the outer side of the metal bars. 

"So what are you gonna get?"

"Cheese toasties," Levi said without hesitation. Eren scrunched up his face, but before he could fade it away so Levi didn't see it, Levi looked over and frowned at Eren's reaction.

"What, you have a problem with toasties?"

"No- I mean, well- no. No, how could I have a problem with toasties? I just think they're super gross." Levi looked incredulously at Eren as if he'd been slapped by the taller male.

"What do you mean, gross?"

"Well you no, it's just melted cheese- which isn't even that good, to begin with, quite frankly,- and just fried, toasted bread or whatever you wanna call it. And it's plain and too salty or too dry. They can never seem to taste just right."

"That's why you add things, idiot."

"I still think it's gross, try to change my mind," Eren said, rolling his eyes. Levi just simply scoffed in return. 

"Whatever, you freak. I think they're fucking delicious. You don't insult a man's favourite food."

"How the hell is that you're favourite food?!" 

"Shut it, anti-toastie." Levi clucked, looking away from Eren finally. Eren laughed, and the smile didn't fade. It was strange, not even five minutes ago he thought Levi was a total asshole, but now...

Well, now he was kinda fun to talk to. They'd only come into contact once before now, and suddenly it was super easy to talk to him. Eren loved it when that happened when it was just super easy to talk to someone. That was how he and Connie became friends, when they were put together in a seating arrangement in maths back in year nine and Eren had been separated from Armin for the first time. Connie had a massive rip in the middle of his shirt despite it only being the first couple days into school and Eren didn't even need to ask about it- once Connie had caught Eren glancing he'd spilt the whole story about it. Ever since then, it had been more of a challenge to stop talking than rather than to start. 

Eren and Levi began walking back to the class, Eren shooting disapproving looks down at Levi's food. Levi sent them straight back at Eren's face. Once they reached the classroom again, they saw Armin Erwin and Hanji engaged in a conversation which looked like it was way more fun than it could actually ever be. 

"Hey, guys," Hanji said when she noticed Eren and Levi. "Oooh, toasties, good choice," Hanji said, causing Eren to snort. Hanji gave Eren the exact same face that Levi gave him, but before he could explain Armin cut in. 

"Let's get going, I promised Thomas I'd help him with his maths homework before his internal tomorrow and I'm busy other than now." Hanji wasn't letting Eren go off easy, however.

"We're having this conversation later." She said, causing Eren to laugh. 

"We'll see you later then!" She said and began walking off with Erwin and Levi in tow. Levi sort of lingered behind, however, and Eren took this as an opportunity to say a proper individual goodbye to him. 

"See you later, Levi." Levi didn't look back at Eren however, merely waved him off slightly.

"Later, anti toastie asshole."


	4. Levi's helpful, yay!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren made the mistake of leaving important papers at home, and gets caught out when he's sneaking out of school to go grab them. Levi shows up to help him out of his dilemma.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear these chapters get longer eventually

The second period was the period in which you knew your patience was over with, the period where you started to slack off if you really didn't want to be in the hell hole that was school.

Unless you were Eren of course, in which you realised that you had an internal in the third period and you forgot the papers you needed in order to actually complete the internal.

Courtesy to staying up late that night sending memes to Connie, Eren had woken up super late and forgotten his papers for his internal. This, of course, meant that Eren would now have to text his mum and ask her to drop them off, seeing as she didn't have work that day. It wasn't ideal by any means, but he'd just have to sneak out at interval to grab it from her. Not that he would tell her that, though. There was no way she'd let him. So, he'd have to do it all under secrecy. Eren opened up his phone in hidden sight from the teacher, where it opened up onto the last person he'd texted. Armin.

Or rather, the last person who had texted him. Armin had sent an excited series of texts and photos earlier that day announcing that he had gotten into the SCAT team, along with Hanji and a couple of other people Eren faintly knew. He'd received about five different photos of the badge alone, and even Eren had to admit that it was kind of cool. Eren hadn't seen Hanji or her two friends since the previous week, and he hadn't really thought of them either. 

He switched out to his mother's contact and quickly sent the text asking her if she could possibly bring his papers to just outside the school. After convincing her that it was okay for him to leave school at interval, she agreed. Eren smiled, taking a note to do something special for her later on as a thank you. He waited impatiently for the period to end, sitting anxiously as he was worried his mother would be too late or too early. The bell did go eventually, and Eren had to refrain from sprinting out of the class. 

He didn't see any of his friends as he walked out of the school, and nor did he see any teachers. That was a good sign. Luckily there were no other students who gave him a second glance aside from the year nines who looked as if they might drop dead from fear. It was like that every year, but now the difference was that Eren wasn't one of them. This year, he was feared. It was kinda stupid, being honest. 

He walked past the gates without a hitch, and he breathed a sigh of relief. Now, all he had to do was quickly go to the parking lot of the supermarket not too far away and then get back before-

"Excuse me, young man, what are you doing out here? I'm sure you know only year 13's are able to leave the grounds at breaks." Eren turned comically around to try and settle his now racing heart. Shit. He smiled, trying and desperately clawing and raking at his brain to come up with some sort of bullshit excuse. He was sick and getting picked up? No, those never worked from what he'd heard from other's experiences. He stood there stumbling and sputtering with that stupid smile on his face, trying so, so hard to remain calm. Eren's eyes snapped to the sound behind him and the teacher. Footsteps. Eren groaned inwardly when he saw that it was, in fact, Levi. He's gonna blow my cover, goddamnit. Eren looked back at the teacher. He just had nothing to say, that was it. His mind was blank and he was going to get into trouble and-

"Hey, Eren! There you are. I've been looking for you everywhere, you said you'd wait for me after class you asshole." Levi's crisp voice rang out across the bus bay and Eren sighed in relief. The teacher turned on her heel, finding as she had a new victim.

"What are you two of you doing out here? You should be back in there." She gestured towards the gates.

"It's all goods miss, we're on the SCAT team. We've got a SCAT welcome meeting thing, you know to congratulate all of us that got in so Eren here and I were just going to pop over to the supermarket to get some stuff." It was a good thing the teacher was facing the other way, because Eren's jaw dropped as he stared incredulously at Levi. On the SCAT team? There were certainly outlandish reasons and excuses he could have used, but to say that they were on the SCAT team? Eren mouthed 'What are you doing?' but Levi didn't even glance back at Eren. 

"Oh, well, in that case, can I please see your badges?" Eren did a little half turn of hopelessness on the spot. Of course, they didn't have badges, because they weren't even in the position in which they could own them. Levi just shrugged however, and began walking closer over to Eren.

"I actually came looking for Eren because he forgot his badge. I was bringing it to him." And as if it was magic or some sort of miracle, in Levi's hand laid a SCAT team badge. Eren blinked several times to make sure that he wasn't seeing things, and then he squinted his eyes to see if it was a real badge or not. When he finally knew that it was legit, he took it from Levi's hands with a fake, fake smile.

"Thanks Levi, I didn't even realise."

"Whatever, idiot." The teacher looked between the two boys before finally nodding.

"Alright, off you two go then. Don't take too long, interval ends soon."

"Don't worry miss, we'll be quick." Levi assured her, pushing Eren slightly in the direction of away from the school. The two didn't speak until the teacher was out of earshot.

"You idiot, you didn't take any precautions in case you got caught?"

"You stole a SCAT badge?!"

"I didn't steal it, I'm borrowing it from Hanji because I'm not a dumb fuck and I actually thought it through."

"Why the hell are you here anyway? I mean, thanks a bunch for helping me because I was totally screwed but why are you here?" Levi huffed, accepting Eren's quite frankly shit thank you.

"I actually am going over to get some food, but not for any SCAT welcome meeting or whatever bullshit I said. I just thought I'd help you out while you were there. What are you doing sneaking out? You didn't exactly strike me as that type.

"I left some stuff for my internal at home so I'm getting my mum to drop it off when I get to the parking lot."

"Alright then. I guess while you do that I can quickly get the stuff I need so we can walk back together."

"And why are we walking back together?"

"Are you actually stupid?" Eren rolled his eyes, brushing off the insult. Levi just sighed. "Because that teacher might still be there, or another teacher, and we might need to convince them that we are actually are a part of the SCAT team. I'm fine, although it would look suspicious if we didn't come back at the same time and if you got caught again you don't have a badge on you. So, you get your stuff and I'll get my lunch. Deal, cool, wack?"

"Wack-"

"Alright cool, see you in five," Levi said, already beginning to walk ahead of Eren. The brunette sighed, running a hand through his moppy hair. 

"Asshole." Eren muttered. But a nice one. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"That was so lucky, I totally thought that I was gonna fail my internal when I found out I didn't have my papers." Eren laughed, holding said papers close to his chest. Levi looked over at him like he was hugging an old, dirty wet sock.

"Yeah, and I was worried that by saving your sorry ass I was going to starve today," Levi mumbled, holding his own food closer. 

The two passed the blue line which signalled them once again entering school territory, and the bell rang out just as they reached it. 

"Well, I'm off to go do my internal now. Wish me luck." Eren said jokingly, looking down at Levi who just rolled his eyes.

"Yeah whatever, see you. Have fun." Levi walked off, not without making eye contact however and it almost didn't look as if he was dead inside.


	5. Hanji's game

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rather than listening to Jean for the whole of his lunchtime, Eren decides to inspect why Levi is looking around every corner frantically.

Eren looked up at the sky, resisting the constant urge to bang his head repeatedly against the back of the classroom he was leaning against. Honestly, hearing Jean drone on and on non-stop for fifteen minutes was something that no one, not even the devil himself should have to succumb to. Unfortunately for poor Eren, Armin had to desperately talk to Jean about something or other and Eren, not wanting to be left with Connie on an angry phone call to Sasha, had no choice but to join his blonde friend. It didn't make sense, the sky was blue, no clouds in the sky and the grass had never been greener. But still, Eren was fantasizing about banging his head again to the beat of some stupid song a group of year 10's was playing somewhere in the background. What did I do to deserve this?

He wasn't paying attention, he had a habit of zoning out and droning out Jean's stupid words and complaints and arguments, but that still didn't stop Eren from hearing his voice. The only time Eren fond it somewhat bearable to hear Jean speak was when Marco was there because he always somehow made Jean shut up just by looking at him. Unfortunately, the saint wasn't there as he was away on some sort of trip. Huzzah. 

Eren looked around, wondering how long it was until he'd finally give in and walk away when he saw a familiar short boy walking around with a rather quick pace, he facial features drawn into the most terrifying scowl Eren had ever seen. Levi looked around corners, sharply turning and mumbling constant things under his breaths, and Eren wasn't an expert in lip reading, but he could tell that they were definite cusses. He was pissed off, there was no doubt about that. And even though pissed off Levi looked like he could kill with just one glance, death seemed better than having to sit around all lunch listening to Jean's bullshit. 

"Hey, I'm just gonna go over there for a sec," Eren announced, tapping Armin on the shoulder briefly before walking off.

"Oh, okay," Armin said, not even looking back at his friend. To be expected, Jean's face was such a train wreck it was kind of hard to look away.

Eren walked over, and it didn't take long as Levi seemed to be in a slump, doing nothing but looking around. As Eren got closer he could make out what cusses specifically Levi was using, and they weren't pretty.

"Hey, Levi," Eren said, raising a hand in greeting. Levi snapped his head to Eren so fast it was a surprise it didn't snap clean off and soar straight for Eren. 

"Hi, brat." 

"Ouch, is that how you address all your partners in crime?" Eren joked, quite frankly scared for his life. Levi just glared back as his response. Okay, so I guess even after yesterday we're back to square one? Levi began moving again, seemingly taken over by some sort of hunting animalistic instincts. he moved over to a nearby classroom and peeked inside, not spending long there before moving to look at the next one, and the next one, and the next one. Next, he checked around corners, and then he even started expecting people closely. He looked half wild, and Eren had never felt so awkward in his life. In fact, he was wondering if this actually was, in fact, better than banging his head against the wall due to Jean's carry on. 

"Okay, what the hell are you doing? you look like a half-wild animal who can't remember where he left his stash." Eren said, rolling his eyes and walking up to Levi. 

"That little shit Hanji has gone missing. She was all like 'Ooh I'm bored' like a fucking five-year-old, and then took off when she claimed that she wanted to play around the school hide and seek. Well, she set off when I told her it was dumb and childish and Erwin didn't really want to because he's fucking tired. So, of course, she had to take off with my fucking phone and Erwin's jacket, leaving us stranded without them so that we would have to come and find them. Well, find her more like it. So, now Erwin and I are on this stupid fucking hunt to fin Hanji and get out stuff back by the end of this god damned lunch because god only knows when we'll get it all back if we don't." Levi was breathing hard, pure anger and slight hatred reeling off his and filling out his words. I do not want to know how he would have acted if it was my fault he didn't get to go get his lunch yesterday. Eren however, couldn't help but burst into laughter while Levi just glared. It was an absolutely hilarious and ridiculous situation, how could he not laugh?

"I'm sorry- I'm sorry," Eren continued to laugh before finally getting himself together. "Look do you- do you want some help? It'll be better than what I had planned, believe me." Levi just looked curious.

"And that was?"

'Banging my head against a wall until I saw nothing but god holding out his hand saying 'I'll take you away from these stupid assholes." Levi cracked a smile, and Eren couldn't help but be glad because of it.

"Yeah, sure, you can help. Besides, after your stunt yesterday I don't think God will want to take you in lightly. I guess you could call it more of a fantasy more than anything." Levi joked, already walking forward to begin his hunt once again, but with Eren at his side. However, Levi stopped walking just after a few steps.

"What's wrong?" Levi looked over at Eren wearily. 

"You have to promise not to side with Hanji if we do find her, okay? I've had too many people betray me to her, more than I'd like to count. Eren laughed, shaking his head.

"Don't worry, I promise I won't betray you." 

"Good, else I would have had to kick your ass into the motherfucking sun." 

"Charming." Eren mumbled, and Levi just smiled as they resumed walking. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

One of the first building to check, was B block. 

It was the art block, and Levi had an idea that she might be trying to hide under the desks or being sculptures or something. Eren was sceptical, worried that Hanji might knock something over or something else ridiculous.

"She's not that careless, I don't think. Come on." Levi said they two entered the building. They avoided all contact with teachers and other students, not that there were many the two of them even knew. They searched each classroom, but to no avail. They couldn't find any Hanji, and they were angrily hurried out of the class when there were students that looked like they hadn't had any sleep in weeks, painting away.

"I hear it takes them three hours just to do one painting, and then the teacher comes in saying 'It's good, but change everything', no wonder they all look like they have coffee withdrawal. Levi whispered, sending Eren into a frenzy of laughter. Levi too wore a smile on his usually sour face. The two exited the building and continued to search three other blocks, W, A and G. No sign on Hanji. At one point they even began asking students whether they'd seen someone with Levi's description of 'Rather tall, lots of energy, glasses, oh and a girl. Also, a fucking bitch running around maniac with a phone and jacket too big to fit her." No one had seen Hanji however, and Levi's patience was wearing thin and the minutes went on.

"My precious fucking lunchtime, gone," Levi grumbled, looking around, looking almost as if he were defeated, almost as if he were about to actually set a damn building on fire. As if Jesus himself had decided to bless them with a wish, Levi looked up at the same time as Eren and they let out a synchronized 'What the fuck?'

Because above them, dangling from the top of a tree, was Hanji.

She grinned mischievously down at them.

"Hanji, what the fuck are you doing up there?" Levi groaned, turning on his heel to face away briefly. 

"Screw the what, the real question is how the fuck you got up there?"

"Isn't the answer simple?" Eren turned around to see Erwin approaching grimly. "She's Hanji." 

"Why didn't you text me saying that she was here?" Levi asked, obviously pissed. "We've been looking all over the place."

"Because the damn witch stole my phone right before she skedaddled right back up the tree!"

"You sure know how to pick 'em." Eren mumbled over to Levi, and in return, he got a swat on the arm. 

"Alright Hanji, you win. Now give us our stuff now." Hanji old clucked her tongue in response.

"Uh-uh-uh! You cheated by getting an extra helper, which means that I'm gonna run for it and you sweet boys have to catch me. Not to mention you took so long!" 

"Hanji-"

"Alrighty, toodaloo!" She called as she shimmied now the tree, and disappeared into the school.

"For fuck's sake." Levi slammed his palm against his forehead. 

"What are we gonna do now?"

"Well, now we have to fucking catch her, dipshit. Erwin, ideas on how to catch the motherfucker?"

"Well, I guess we could just run and try to catch her. I mean, it's not like she's got super speed or anything now does she?" No one having a better idea, and besides Erwin had a point she wasn't Dash from the Incredibles or anything, they all set out in different directions to try and find her. 

Although it sucked for Erwin and Levi that their own stuff was at stake, Eren felt great. He didn't mind some physical activity, he'd only dropped it in year 11 because he didn't have enough options to make it so the running and walking around didn't bother him. Plus, anything was better than sitting around and listening to Jean drone on for the entirety of the lunchtime he had spare.

Eren ran and ran, spotting Levi and Erwin occasionally but not stopping to say hello. He asked people if they saw a manic chick running loose, and he'd just look at him strangely giving him useless answers. Not that it bothered him though, he'd find her soon enough. Or, Levi or Erwin might too. 

Finally, after running for what felt like a marathon, Eren spotted Hanji. She was casually leaning against a trash can, getting odd looks thrown her way. Whenever someone looked too long, however, she just smiled back. Honestly, it was kind of terrifying. Her smiles only intensified when she saw Eren, however. he waved and Eren ran over, not being fulled by her 'charms.' Hanji bolted however just as Eren was two arm lengths away. His lungs began to gasp for air, and the wind tore at his hair with each long stride he took towards her. The ground pounded beneath his feet, pebbles pushing against his feet through the thin soles of his shoes. Just as he was about to snatch at Hanji's jacket, she banked and ran around a steep corner. Eren only had a second to stop himself from running smack into said corner. He dug his crappy heels into the worn out concrete, breathing heavily when his face came into close contact with the wall. He swore, turning. How is she so fast? Eren doubled over, fearing that he might be sick. He heard running footsteps, then fast heaving beside him and then felt a hand on his shoulder. The person next to him doubled over also.

"Where," Levi heaved, "The fuck did she go?" Eren couldn't find the breath, the energy nor the will to use words, so he just vaguely gestured in the direction she went in. Levi took off, his breath not slowing down. After two minutes of finally calming down Eren could breathe again, and when he looked up he saw Levi walking back, looking extremely pissed.

Even an idiot could tell it was because Hanji got away. 

"Well, this plan sucks and it's clearly not working." Eren joked, but Levi scowled.

"No shit. Erwin's gone into stealth mode and is following Haji, he's convinced that she has no idea but you never know with that freaking demon. So, new plan, we have to ambush her. Or something, I don't fucking know I've never done this before."

"Alright, then how are we gonna do it? I don't know about you even though I could take a pretty good guess, but I couldn't even lay one fucking finger on her."

"Like I said, no shit. Look Erwin's unable to contact us because she has his fucking phone so that's a non-starter, so it's just you and me." Fucking great.

"Cool, then what's the plan, Captain Levi?"

"Don't call me that, I've known you for like a week, that's weird."

"More like three, actually."

"Whatever. Anyways, I have a feeling that since it's heading the end of lunch she's gonna go back to her starting point by that tree, so I think that one of us should hide up in that tree while the other in around a corner."

"Great... only thing is, I'm not the one being in the tree right?"

"You think I'm going up in the fucking tree?"

"Well, yeah."

"Well, no. You're going up the tree."

"But I'm not even a part of this whole mess! I just wanted to help you find Hanji not hunt her down!"

"Well now you're in this mess and you're gonna be in this mess until the end. You're in the tree, got it?" Eren stared at Levi for a moment before backing down, grumbling. 

"Fine."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eren sat up in the tree, utterly still. 

It wasn't ideal, clearly, but Eren's left foot was tucked up so tight he was afraid it was going to fall off. Stupid tall legs. It had taken Eren at least eight solid minutes to get up into the tree and the position he was in, Levi whisper-yelling at him the whole time. Eren had never been one of those kids who liked to climb trees, and he wasn't starting now either. Several times he almost fell out, and the rest of the times her attempted he wasn't too steady either. 

Levi could be seen below hiding under a bench behind a building, and unless Hanji came running around that very building's corner, he should be fine and not seen. The two hadn't heard from Erwin either, so there was no telling how he would come into play, if he would at all. Whether he was smart enough to come back to the place where it all started, Eren didn't know, hadn't asked Levi. Or Levi could be totally wrong and Hanji wouldn't even show up in the first place. It was a possibility, after all.

But Levi seemed to have the utmost confidence in this plan, and so Eren had no choice but to go along with it.

He sat and sat and sat, not daring to check his phone for fear of falling it. God only knew how much time had passed. Soon enough after that, however, Eren says Hanji hurtling around a corner, Erwin hot on her trail. Eren looked quickly to Levi who nodded at him. It couldn't be more perfect, Hanji would probably try to climb back up to the top of the tree only to find Eren sitting there with a big shit-eating grin on his face, and there would be nowhere to turn after that as Erwin and Levi would be sitting at the bottom. From Levi's smile, Eren could tell he was thinking of the same thing, the same conclusion as to how this would all end.

Hanji let out some sort of high pitched shrill of laughter a she looked back at Erwin. Despite all the energy Hanji seemed to have, it was obvious that it was starting to run out. Erwin, on the other hand, looked like he could run for miles. It was a wonder he hadn't caught her all on his own yet. 

As expected, Hanji let out another burst of speed in order to get a run and jump to climb up the tree. She spider-crawled up, scaring the living shit out of Eren. What the-

Before he knew it, Hanji was face to face with Eren, and her mouth fell open. Before Eren could grab her, however, he lost balance and clung to the branch as to not fall to his fatal death. Hanji saw this as the opportunity to escape, but halfway down the tree, she realized that she was completely surrounded.

"Come on Hanji, just jump into my arms and give us our stuff back. We win." Erwin coaxed Hanji for a solid two minutes before she finally gave in, and dropped gracefully into his arms. She sighed in contentment.

"Ah. That was fun now, wasn't it? Good exercise." She patted Erwin on the chest before letting herself out of his arms. 

"It might've been fun for you, you fucking witch," Levi muttered before taking his phone forcefully from Hanji's pocket.

"Aw, Levi!" Hanji pouted. "You're no fun."

"Maybe you're just a bit too much fun on a day like this," Erwin said, retrieving his stuff too.

"A day like what?"

"A day when I decided to get out of bed." Levi scowled, looking up at Eren.

"Nice job, brat, you can come down now." Like I haven't already tried Eren thought bitterly. He had tried numerous times, but he just couldn't find a way where he wouldn't look his grip or his footing. The position he was in before his almost fall meant that he could easily scale down, but now...

Now he was stuck.

"Don't tell me poor old Eren's trapped!? Levi, how could you send a boy who's not proficient in tree climbing up there? I know for a fact you used to climb trees with Isabel and Farlan all the time!"

"Well, he wanted to help. Just go up and ep him, shitty glasses. It's your fault he's stuck up there anyway."

"Asshole," Eren called down, earning a laugh from Hanji. She did as she was told, however, and by the time the bell went, Eren had his feet safely on the ground once more. 

"Alright, we better all head off to fifth period then. Thank you Eren, for joining us on this... adventure."

"Game, Erwin, it's called a game!"

"Zip it, you. You just made me do the amount of exercise I could have covered in a week's worth of P.E." Erwin said his goodbyes before heading off in the opposite direction to everyone else.

"I don't wanna goooo." Hanji whined, stomping.

"Come on you." Levi hooked his arm around Hanji's and began to drag her, quite literally, towards their next class, whatever it was. 

"See you, Eren." Levi smiled and waved at the brunette as he walked away. Eren wave back, a smile dancing on his lips.


	6. Middivillage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Connie comes bursting into tutor time with an ancient looking board game, and missing two key players Eren invites Levi and Hanji to play with them. Will Eren and Levi be able to make an effective team, or will they crash and burn and lose the game?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was ridiculously fun to write so I hope it's not too boring to read.

Three weeks ago, Eren never would have believed that he would be running around frequently around school trying to catch a crazed female maniac in an all boys school, sneaking out most intervals with the shortest 17-year-old in existence, or that he would be hanging out with an extra three people outside of his friend group. These days though, that's exactly what he's doing.

Ever since his involvement with the game of hide and seek tag with Erwin, Levi and Hanji, Eren had been hanging out with them more. Sometimes it was Hanji and Levi, sometimes it was just Levi and Erwin, and sometimes it was just Erwin and Hanji. On bad days, however, Eren got one on one session. Being alone with Erwin was awkward, as he didn't really know what to talk about and Erwin seemed to be quite a reserved guy, Hanji was just a fucking nightmare as you could imagine and Levi was... Well, Eren didn't know what to make of his alone times with Levi.

They did sneak out a lot of internals, however, once Eren had convinced Armin to lend his badge to him. He claimed that he wasn't doing any harm, but Armin quickly changed his mind when the point was brought up that if Eren was caught, Armin's badge could be taken away and he could be removed from the SCAT team. Still, Armin leant the badge to his best friend.

It was almost refreshing just getting out of school for fifteen minutes every once and a while, just having relaxed conversations with Levi or no conversations at all. He learnt a lot about Levi, like the fact that his birthday was on Christmas and he was 17, short for his age. Then Levi found out that Eren was tall for his age, as he was still only 16 and wouldn't be 17 until the following year. Of course, going over to buy food was a new way to find out what other disgusting foods Levi liked, or what food tastes they had in common- although it wasn't a lot. They'd exchanged numbers as well, and Eren had done the same with both Hanji and Erwin. 

More often than not, Eren would get a text or a call from one of the three asking if he wanted to join in on one of Hanji's games or not. She seemed to be having them every two or three days or so, and, more often than not, Eren would accept. Well, on the condition that he'd have nothing at stake. This was this one time where Hanji promised Eren an innocent game of hide and seek, however when Eren got there Levi and Erwin instantly took him to the side asking why the hell he agreed. When he asked what was wrong with a simple game of hide and seek, the two informed Eren that a simple game of hide and seek was not a simple game of hide and seek with Hanji. As it turned out, they were completely right and needless to say that Eren was living in fear for the rest fo that torturous lunchtime. Instead of Hanji hiding, it was everyone else hiding while she found them. You were allowed to run but with Haji chasing after you, the odds were most certainly stacked against you. Poor Erwin was found by Hanji, and even though he was even remotely attempting his escape, she tackled him to the ground, right into the concrete. It took the entire week for his skin to heal.

The best part was, Eren even got some of his original friend group to partake. It wasn't often, maybe only once or twice a week, but they'd meet up and talk and run away from the school like lunatics together. This way, Eren didn't feel like he was neglecting either party. 

Eren sat in tutor time, listening to Armin ramble on aimlessly about how he had a new study session thing in place and how efficient he thought it was going to be. Honestly, Eren couldn't care less about how having your study day on a Sunday and calling it 'Study Sunday' made studying any more fun, because, in his eyes, it really didn't make a difference.

Connie ran into the room then, some board game bundled up in his arms. Armin quietened, frowning looking between the boardgame and Connie. Eren just snorted. 

"Connie, what the fuck it that?"

"It's an old board game I found in the opp shop with Sasha a while back, I just found it this morning and I've been looking at it!"

"Is that why we haven't seen you all day? Connie, it's lunch. Have you really just come in to show us this?"

"Yup!" Connie ignored everyone's disbelief, sitting himself down.

"Connie," Jean said, eyeing up the old board game. "You do realise that you missed like, practically the whole day right? What was the point in even coming in?"

"To show you guys the game, duh! Here just, take a look." Connie began unpacking the game, Eren looking out the window. He'd never been one for board games, not after Mikasa had flipped one onto him when he'd accidentally cheated. Eren looked at the board, and then looked at Connie. His friend seemed really genuinely invested and heart set on playing this game, so against his better judgement, Eren turned back around.

"Alright, I'll play." Armin nodded thoughtfully.

"Yeah, I'll play too."

"Guess that means I have to." Jean murmured, although Eren suspected that Jean had wanted to play ever since he set eyes on the damn thing. 

"Great! Where's Marco, I'm sure he'd love to play! Actually, I think he was there when we bought it."

"He's away, visiting family I think," Eren said, popping a grape into his mouth that he'd bought earlier on his adventure to the supermarket with Levi.

"This time of the year?" Jean nodded.

"Wedding." Connie huffed, slumping in his seat.

"Alright then, that leaves us two players short. Connie looked around the room, looking for potential players. He finally spotted Thomas, and yelled out across the room.

"Hey, Thomas! Wanna play a board game?" Thomas took one look and then a grin took over his face.

"Yeah, sure, why not!" He moved his chair across the room, and then there were five. 

"Still need to more," Connie grumbled, looking around once more already knowing there was no one else to play. A lightbulb lit up in Eren's head. 

"Hey, I could ask Levi and stuff if they want to play! There's three of them, so even if one says no there's a backup." Connie lit up.

"Great! Alright, you go get them while we set up. Don't take no for an answer." Eren laughed at Connie's threatening tone, getting up to run over to where he other friends usually sat. It wasn't oo far away, so Eren got there rather quickly. Hanji waved over at Eren as soon as he came into her sight.

"Hey, Eren!" 

"Hey!" Eren yelled back, and had to stifle a laugh when he saw what was happening. 

They were joined by another person for a starter, someone Eren had never seen before. Eren thought his hair looked like an onion. Next, Eren noticed that they were all in some sort of weird circle square thing, with hands and legs all over the show. Hanji hadn't moved one inch and while she looked excited and hyped and ecstatic, the others didn't nearly look as enthusiastic. Levi was staring daggers at Hanji and looked as if he could bring an entire building down just by glaring at it, while Erwin was looking at Erwin with a pleading in his eyes. He looked over at Levi and smiled, giving him a short wave. Instantly upon seeing Eren, Levi relaxed out of his ridiculous position and stood normally.

"Oh, thank god you're here Eren. I can't stand another moment of this god forsaken game."

"We're playing Ninja tag, Eren! Wanna join?" Just by looking at the others, Eren could tell that this was game he just had to sit out on.

"Nah, I'm good. Although, I do have another game in mind that we could play."

"Ooh goody, what is it?"

"Well, Connie brought in this old board game he found a while back and we're short of two players, any of you in?"

"OH MY GOSH YESYESYESYESYES!" Hanji squealed, breaking out of her ninja tag formation. Eren watched as Erwin and Levi eyed each other up, having some sort of silent conversation. After a moment, Erwin broke the eye contact,

"I'll stay here with Gunther. You go on, Levi. I know how much you love board games." He said with a wink in the shorter male's direction. Now what the hell does that mean?

"Great." Eren smiled. Before Eren could get properly acquainted with Gunther, Levi and Hanji are both already on their way forward to Eren's tutor class. Eren was confused at first, wondering how the hell they knew where it was until he remembered that he had, in fact, told them the previous week. 

"Hey, Eren?" Levi asked.

"Yeah?"

"Why did you come all the way down? You could have just texted."

"Oh... I didn't think of that." Eren admitted sheepishly, looking away. God, I'm stupid.

"It's not like we would have seen it anyway," Hanji called back, skipping far ahead of the two boys. "We were busy having too much fun playing ninja tag!"

"Yeah, fun." Levi murmured, and Eren laughed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Alright, so everyone got it?" Connie asked, looking every one individually in the eye. The rules of the game were simple, it was a team game, and now that everyone knew them, they could begin. 

"Alright, so since Hanji won the name guessing game, she and I go first. Then it's Armin, and Thomas, Jean as you're the God person or whatever so you're a loner, and then Levi then Eren last. Kapeesh?"

"Kapeesh!" Everyone aside from Levi said in unison. 

Since she was so excited, Connie allowed Haji to roll the dice first. She rolled a 6, meaning that they could progress through the board by six places. It was a standard way of moving around the board, so no one had a problem with getting their heads around that.

The objective of the game is to collect as many sheep, bricks and wheat as you could in order to build up as many farms and villages as you could. There were other various items that you could also collect, such as gold and carrots and blankets and things. In certain spaces, there were things like the plague which would affect everyone in the game, or maybe there would just be a snowstorm that affected the person who landed on it. 

Hanji had managed to land on a spring space, however, meaning that she could collect some honeycombs. She squealed in delight, and Connie smiled at her, obviously beginning to get pumped by her excitement. 

"Alright, Armin and Thomas, off you go!" Thomas rolled, earning them a four and landing on the space in which would give them three sheep. The problem was, they didn't have any wheat to feed the sheep or any bricks to house the sheep. 

"Um, what now?" Thomas asked, and Connie playfully rolled his eyes.

"You gotta give them to the stable boy over there, Jean. You know how you started the game with three gold pieces? That's enough to pay Jean to look after your sheep until you have enough bricks and wheat."

"Okay then, um." Armin handed over their three gold cards. Jean took them with a slight smile on his face. 

"Cool." He said, causing Eren to roll his eyes.

"What's so cool about taking money from a poor farmer and his wife?"

"Shut up, Jaeger."

"Moving on!" Connie hollered. Jean grumbled, picking up the die. He rolled a 2.

"Hah! Suck it, Jean-"

"Shut up, Eren." Levi elbowed Eren in the stomach, causing the taller of the two to kneel over. He whipped his head up, mouth agape. He closed it, however, when he saw the look Levi was giving him. Eren did shut up after that.

"What does this even mean?" Jean asked Connie, squinting to see what the symbol was. Connie only smirked.

"That, my friend, is a flooding. Two gold pieces for the damages to be fixed." Jean groaned, putting the cards back into the box.

"This game sucks. I don't have anything to be flooded."

"Don't hate the game, game the die." Hanji chirped. Connie gestured towards Eren and Levi. 

"Alright, you two go." Eren glanced over at Levi.

"Do you wanna roll or am I rolling?"

"I don't mind-"

"Levi's got the worse luck with rolling, Eren you go," Hanji said before clamping his hand over her mouth. 

"Dammit, why did I say that?" She groaned as Eren took the die. 

"Jokes on him, Hanji, because Eren can't roll for shit either." Connie grinned, causing Eren to scowl.

"You keep doing that and you're gonna have matching faces." Hanji giggled, waving her hand between Eren and Levi. Eren ignored her, however, and rolled the die. 

It landed on a 3.

"Carrots," Levi said flatly, wordlessly taking the card from Jean. "Fucking carrots. Nice going, Eren."

"Oh hush you, at least now we won't starve in the winter." Eren joked. 

The game was surprisingly fun, even though most of them didn't want to admit it. There was no shortage of different spaces to land on, and there always seemed to be new items that you could pick up. Some of the situations were a bit odd- and Armin and Thomas even ended up having a baby girl somehow. There were also times when you had to work together with your teammate, sorting out how you would survive when you had run out of supplies or when you had to lie your way out of things. There was plenty of scheming and strategizing also.

"YES TAKE THAT YOU FUCKING SON OF A BITCH" Hanji screamed, gaining some concerned looks from others around the class. She and Connie had somehow devised a plan to circle and ambush Eren and Levi's 2 pigs. There had been a flood meaning that their pigs had escaped through a broken and open fence gate, meaning that the pigs were now 50 pages ahead. Whoever managed to get to the pigs and have the right materials and way to catch the pigs could catch and keep them, they were fair game.

"NO, JEROME AND MADDIE!" Eren slammed his fist on the table. 

"We worked so hard to feed those damn things." Levi groaned.

"We sold our luxury bed!"

"Don't forget that peg leg." Armin piped up.

"I was so close." Jean whimpered, looking hopelessly at his avatar which was only three paces behind Connie and Hanji's. Levi laid a hand on Eren's hand. 

"It's alright, we'll get them back. Somehow, someday." Eren and everyone else laughed at how dramatic Levi was making it sound. Hell, even Levi cracked a bit of a smile. 

The game continued on, a blur of snowstorms and spring times and pets and children. There were raids and Vikings and even a damn unicorn at one point.

"You know," Thomas said at one point. "I'm convinced that whoever made this game was either high or drunk off his ass. When did you say this was made again Connie?"

"1994. There is some off stuff aye?"

"How is this even in okay condition?" Levi asked, picking up one of their honeycomb cards.

"I dunno, guess whoever it belonged to looked after it well. Oh goddammit." Connie mumbled, seeing as he'd just landed on the second raid card in a row.

"Connie, at this rate I'm going to have to ban you from even looking at the die. We're losing all our wheat." Hanji huffed, snatching it away from him. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Oh my god Hanji you're so fucking annoying, just give our bricks back," Levi growled.

"NEVER!" She hugged the cards tighter to her chest. "It's all we have left. Left of Belinda, THINK OF BELINDA." Connie huddled with Hanji, the two of them fake crying. Jean's eye was twitching while Levi looked like he was going to strangle his friend from across the table. Taking advantage of this moment, Eren leaned over and began whispering frantically to Levi.

"Look, they're only 20 paces ahead of us. If we could somehow land on that 13th one, then we could get the plague card. We've got plenty of sheep to spare and I bet we can get rid of our children by then, plus we've got that immunity card I swiped from Thomas and Armin so we'll survive this round for sure, meaning that the next time someone lands on a raid card we can all enter it."

"Enter a raid? That is not a part of the rules."

"It is, I was reading through when Hanji was robbing Jean blind of his dog. Look, once everyone is in on the raid we can take back our bricks and even take some gold while we're at it, then if we can roll really low or really high no one will be tempted to take anything from us!" Levi said nothing as he considered Eren's plan.

"Yeah, okay, sounds good. You'll have to be pretty skilled at rolling, though You sure you can do it? We could lose everything, we did in the last plague."

"We weren't prepared then, and we had a newborn baby."

"Miracle she survived."

"Kinda wish she hadn't."

The two returned to the game as if nothing had happened. Eren looked at everyone and Jean actually looked as if he was going to have a fit.

"Alright, alright, you can keep the damn bricks."

"YAY!" Hanji yelled, hugging Connie closer.

"Thank the lord THAT'S over," Jean said, taking the die. After Jean landed on a spring space, it was finally Eren's turn to roll.

He did just fine and managed to land on a summer space. This meant that they could send their daughter off to a mill to work for the summer, and she'd come back in another few rounds when they landed on summer again. 

After another couple turns it was up to Eren and Levi again. Now, it was crucial that they landed on the correct number of the die, else they could lose the entire game. Already having agreed beforehand, Levi had always somehow managed to roll the smaller numbers so he would go. He did so, but luck did not grace them at that moment and it landed two spaces to high.

"Ah, fuck."

"It's okay, I'm sure there's another plague one not too far away." Levi nodded thoughtfully. Then, when Connie rolled, the die landed on a two.

Meaning that they'd start the plague.

"Yes!" Eren hissed, loud enough for only Levi to hear.

"Connieeee." Hanji whined.

"My bad," Connie replied with a sheepish grin. 

"Alright," Levi muttered over to Eren, "Now all we need to do is-" 

"Ah, shit." Thomas groaned, staring at the die like it had just told him he'd failed an exam.

"What's up?" Eren said, peering over. 

"What are the chances, huh Armin?" It was then when Eren saw, that it was just the pairs luck to land on that space. It said that if any natural disaster had happened within the last 20 paces without them landing on it, had to lose an entirety of their item to that very natural disaster. 

"Okay, well I suppose we could get rid of the wheat."

"Jean took all our other food, that would mean we have to get rid of the sheep but we were saving out gold for our daughter's medical bill and our son's education so we can't afford to pay Jean to hold them."

"And letting them loose would mean the others would have a chance at catching them and we'd lose." Armin finished, rubbing his temple. A light bulb lit up in Thomas's head. 

"Wait, Connie, is there a minimum of the stuff you need, or can it be anything?"

"Give me a sick." Connie skimmed over the rules.

"No, it just says the entirety of one's item."

"Cool, we'll just give up our honeycomb then since we don't really need it and spring spaces aren't that hard to come upon."

"Great idea!"

"Alright, my turn," Jean said, rolling the die impatiently. It rolled for a few moments longer than it needed to before finally coming down on a four. 

"Great, a fucking raid space." He murmured. "I'm too far away to raid anyone." This is our chance!

"RAID GAME!" Eren hollered, spinning the die.

"Eren what are you-" If Eren believed in the force from Star Wars, he would have believed that was what allowed him to roll a perfect six so that he could share a space with Hanji and Connie. 

"Alright, Levi, what do we have to take back our beloved bricks? Fuck you, Belinda."

"We have honeycomb to trap these motherfuckers." Hanji gasped.

"How did I not see this coming!? Connie, is this even possible?" Hanji looked over, but Connie was already nodding.

"Yep. I completely forgot about that. Eren, you sneaky bastard." Eren just sent back a shit-eating grin. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I can't believe we went through all that scheming only to come in third." Eren groaned, letting his head smack against the back of his chair. 

In the end, Hanji and Connie had one as expected. Jean had managed to come in second by some miracle, then Eren and Levi had been the solid third place for a while with poor Thomas and Armin being left for dead last.

"Can I just say, you're complaining about not winning to the guy who came last." Armin pointed out, filing in the rest of the cards back into the box. Everyone had classes to attend to while Eren and Armin didn't have as far to walk, so they offered to stay behind and pack up. 

"Right, sorry." Eren huffed, also dumping in some bits and pieces. The two worked in silence for a moment before Armin spoke up.

"Hey, that was actually really fun. You think Connie will let us all play it again sometime soon?" Eren snorted before answering.

"Obviously. No doubt we'll have to switch partners as well. It was a great way to spend lunch, it'll be even better for when it's a rainy day."

"Speaking of partners," Eren's eyes flickered up.

"Yeah?"

"You and Levi worked really well together. You really had Connie and Hanji backed into a corner a lot of the time."

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah. And it's funny, he acts really different around you than how he does with Hanji. Or at least, from what I've seen anyway." Eren's heart almost felt as if it were warming. Levi was a cool guy, scary, but cool, and the thought of being able to have a good friendship with the guy was something that Eren really wouldn't mind at all. Folding up the board, he looked up at Armin once more, smiling.

"Thanks, Armin."


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Levi and Armin have too much fun teasing Eren, Levi asks Eren something, and Mikasa also asks them something later on.

Summer was a time of fun in the sun, a splash in the water, and ice creams and plenty of time spent on the beach.

Unless you were Eren, in which case summer mostly meant trapped in a tight uniform that seemed to leach all the moisture from his skin, emptying his drink bottle over himself at every spare moment, and hoping and praying that in each of his classes there was non-stop air conditioning. 

Having school in any season aside from spring and autumn royally sucked, considering the uniform either felt like it came straight from a tailor down in hell or from the watery depths of the artic. Either way, it wasn't pleasant to be in school when it was winter or summer. 

He lounged on the bench, groaning as he felt the sun heating up his skin as time went on. Not that he was worried it would burn him, as it was almost impossible to burn him, but just upset that there was no room on the bench in the shade. He groaned again as he rolled onto his side, looking helplessly at Levi and Armin who were scrolling on their phones in the shaded side of where they were sitting.

"You guyyyssssss, surely there's some room for me?" Armin looked up with a small smile

"Nope, sorry Eren. Just room for the both of us."

"Since when were you so cruel." Eren moped, letting another unearthly sound slip from his lips.

"Levi when you said 'Hey Hanji and Erwin are away today do you wanna come out and sit with me?' I didn't think that I'd be subjected to this torture."

"You're the one who brought Armin along, and do you really want the poor boy to get sunburnt? Do you Eren?" Eren just groaned back in return, going back to his original position. I only brought Armin so that Armin wouldn't have to be alone. Eren continued to whine while Levi and Armin continued to ignore him. Eren resorted to huffing, doing whatever he could to attempt to piss them off. Eren looked back over after a moment though, having not received any attention from his two friends. 

"No, I thought she was really annoying and mopey and so was she."

"Do you have no sympathy man?"

"None, whatsoever." Armin laughed while a smile danced on Levi's lips. Eren frowned, giving up and allowing himself to roll off onto the floor. It's not fair. Armin and Levi had known each other for like two weeks and barely even talked, yet they were able to have a conversation just as smooth as Eren and Levi were able to, not to mention Armin's social anxiety.

Eren had always wanted a large friend group, and though he had one for the past few years it was exciting to add a couple new friends to his list, Levi included. He knew it was stupid, but Eren felt as if Levi was his friend, yet he'd still introduced Levi to the others. Eren was no stranger to jealousy, it had often clawed at his belly before. He'd never forget the first time- he was 6 years old and thought that he was dying. He and Mikasa were at school when a small blonde kid wandered onto the playground, looking lost as hell. Eren invited him to join them and even though it was him who invited the small boy to join them, Mikasa got to talk to him the most. The boy was Armin of course, and ten years later the three of them were all the 'bestest of friends' as Carla liked to say. 

I'm being ridiculous, this is Armin we're talking about. My best friend, stop being a jealous asshole. Funnily enough, it wasn't too hard to shake off the jealousy. He caught Armin glance over to him and smiled wearily back. 

"Hey, Eren, why don't you come over here? I'm sure we can make some room, right?" Armin looked nervously at Levi for a second, some sort of fear in his eyes. Levi held Armin's eye contact for a moment before smiling and shuffling over to the edge of the bench. Just enough room for Eren to sit between them. Eren didn't hesitate, didn't skip a beat, and jumped up to take that very seat. 

"Ahhhh." He sighed, cooling down right away. Armin just laughed while Levi rolled his eyes. 

Not too long after, the bell went signalling for lunch. A smile stretched over Eren's face as he knew his next class, hospitality, had some really good air conditioning. And honestly, on a hot summers day what's better than air conditioning?

Armin stood and said his fair wells and he walked across the school to head towards whatever class he had next.

"What do you have?" Eren asked, hooking his bag over his back.

"Maths, you?"

"Hospitality. Heading in the same direction I guess?"

"Depends on which way you go, but yeah, I suppose we can."

"Cool," Eren said, waiting for Levi to pack his stuff up.

They walked, dancing between conversation topics. 

"So, maths huh? Do you enjoy it?"

"It's okay. Does anyone really ever fully enjoy maths?"

"No, I suppose not," Eren said, thinking about how he actually did enjoy it when he wasn't doing any work.

"You're not sunburnt or anything, are you?" Eren looked over to check that Levi wasn't mocking him, but the shorter male looked genuinely concerned. 

"Nah, I shouldn't be. I tan instead of burn. You on the other hand look like one minute in the sun would fry you alive." Eren snorted, bumping his shoulder into Levi.

"Shut up, at least I won't get skin cancer."

"I'm going to pretend you didn't say that."

"Whatever, you know it's true." A silence stretched out, neither really having a reply. Eren fumbled for a reply, and struggling to find one, decided to resort to cracking a quite frankly, terrible joke. 

"Hey, what do you-"

"So you wanna hang out this weekend?" Levi asked, not even realizing that he'd completely cut Eren off. Said boy's mouth was hanging open like a broken hatch. 

Eren went completely on lockdown mode.

Oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit, what do I say? Yes, I definitely want to but oh shit what if it's awkward? What if I can't keep a conversation going? What if his family is religious and I do something wrong and I get kicked out? What if he's got a really aggressive dog or something-

"You don't have to come, of course, I just thought that maybe if you were free you'd like to." Levi shrugged. "No big deal."

"Yeah, no that'd be great." Eren hoped like hell that he sounded natural, or at least a tiny bit normal. It would appear that he succeeded as Levi just nodded once. 

"Cool, suppose it's set in stone them."

"Yep." Another awkward silence followed, something that Eren was extremely used to by now.

"Calm down Eren, it's not like I asked to go out with you." Levi joked, rolling his eyes. Eren spluttered slightly before laughing, Levi soon joining him in that endeavour. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Ah, fuck!" Eren yelled furiously pressing down the 'A' button of the Wii remote. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't manage to stay upright and watched in growing anger as his Mario avatar dropped off the face of the Earth.

"Godammit." Mikasa murmured under her breath. "What's the point of being the star helped if you can't even hold down all the enemies?"

"I know right? It fucking sucks." Eren reluctantly selected 'Try again', the music already irritating him beyond belief. 

"Hey, do you wanna do something this weekend? Sasha wants to hang out but I really don't want to."

"Why don't you just tell her that you don't want to?" Eren asked, dodging a fireball. 

"Because I did that the last time she asked as well. I don't know, I just guess I need a break from people. Anyways, so you up for it or not?" Eren was about to accept when he remembered that had already made plans with Levi.

"Sorry, I've got plans with a new friend I made." Mikasa raised her eyebrows at that.

"Oh? A new friend? Since when did you start being such a social butterfly?"

"Since I was dragged into a terrifying game of hide and seek tag with things at stake."

"What- I don't even want to know, actually."

"You sure? It's quite the tale."

"I'm good, really. Anyway, tell me more about this friend of yours? Is it a girl?" Eren snorted at that.

"Where the hell would I meet a girl? Nah, it's this guy called Levi. He's super short, and he's a year older than me."

"How did you meet? School?" Eren swore under his breath before answering after losing a section of health. Mikasa instantly helped by grabbing a coin.

"Thanks. Uh yeah, school. I was handing a note to some teacher for my maths teacher and he was outside the door. Then I think it might have been the next day or something I'm not 100 percent sure but I saw him in assembly. He caught me looking- I know it sounds creepy, it wasn't I was just recognising him- and then I felt awkward just looking away. So, I um, I smiled and waved."

"What did he do?" Mikasa asked after Eren didn't finish.

"Nothing. He turned away without even acknowledging me." Eren laughed at the memory, causing Mikasa to frown.

"He sounds like a bit of an asshole- SHIT!" Mikasa yelled as her hand slipped and Eren was hit with one final blast of fire. The usual end screen came on, and Eren calmy set down his remote, smiling. He rest his hands behind him and looked up fondly at the ceiling.

"Yeah, he kinda is."


	8. Eren finds one of his own kin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On his way to English, Eren stumbles upon a poor lost soul, a lost exchange student. Thankfully for Eren Levi was there at the right place at the right time and so throughout the day they try and hunt down the exchange student's buddy.  
> (Can you tell I am really bad at coming up with chapter summaries?)

Fridays were always one of his better days. It was fresher somehow- and the newly coming up weekend was something that kept him going all the way through it. The only thing between him and that sweet, sweet sleeping in time was a couple hours of school, nothing too bad.

Except, unbeknownst to Eren, this day would be a little bit longer than he would expect it to be. 

He was walking to English, headphones in because of some stupid song stuck in his head, when he spotted someone not too far from him. It wasn't just a random someone, or even a friend someone. But rather, a complete stranger who looked to be at a complete loss.

He was looking around in every direction, looking down frantically at some sort of paper he had in his hand and almost even, looking on the verge of tears. The uniform also wasn't theirs, so it was pretty obvious that he was some sort of exchange international student. It wasn't his place, and it would be so much easier to just walk away from the whole situation, and Eren really didn't want to get into a whole big helping someone situation. A nice, chill, relaxed Friday before his weekend, that's all he was asking for. But, Eren feeling sorry for the poor guy, decided to go up and help him. 

"Hey, are you okay?" He asked once getting up to the person, trying to sound as friendly as possible and trying not to rush. Fortunately, it seemed that he did the right thing because the person sighed in relief. 

"Oh, um, hi. I've lost, looking for the friend, short, brown hair?" Eren filled with dread as he realised what he'd stumbled into. 

This kid was speaking in broken English.

And he had a very, very strong accent. 

Not that Eren thought little of this poor stranded boy, in fact, he was amazed and always had been that someone could even think about moving to another country that spoke a completely different language. It was considered throwing yourself into the deep end, and Eren knew without a doubt that he would certainly drown. But his admiration, of course, did not help with the fact that Eren was extremely bad with accents. Nor did it help the fact that he was on his way to English and god forbid he was late to English again. The previous time was due to one of Hanji's eccentric games- ninja tag, funnily enough- and he and Connie had certainly gotten an ass whooping by their teacher for it. 

"Okay, well, um-"

"Eren!" A smooth voice said behind him, and Eren almost melted. Oh, thank god Levi.

"Hey man, I was wondering if you'd seen-" Levi broke off as he realised that Eren was in the middle of conversing with a stranger. His eyes flickered between the two. 

"Hey."

"Shit, sorry for interrupting, I didn't see you behind Eren." Levi nodded towards the exchange student who seemed to have shrunk in on himself. Oh god, he's scared of Levi. Eren grabbed Levi by the arm, startling the shorter boy.

"Okay listen Levi, this is an exchange student with very broken English and a very strong accent and I am not good with either of those things and he looked lost and I wanted to help and oh god I don't know what to do." He mumbled quickly, knowing that the exchange student wouldn't be able to hear him. Understanding took over Levi's face. 

"What's wrong with him?"

"Weren't you listening? I don't know, I can't understand. He's looking for someone, he said the friend? Which means something that I don't have time to figure out because I can't be late to English!"

"Calm down, stressing and panicking never solved anything," Levi said, turning back to the exchange student. "So, what's the deal? What's wrong?" Eren mentally facepalmed. Honestly, did the guy know how to smile so he didn't look like he was able to murder your entire family with one glare? The exchange student stumbled, searching for the right words.

"I have a friend, brown hair and tall. I have... loose? The friend."

"Do you mean lost?" The boy frantically nodded, beaming now.

"Yes, yes! I have lost.. my, friend."

"And you need help finding him?" The boy nodded again. 

"What's his name?" Eren piped up, feeling oddly left out. 

"And is his uniform the same as ours?"

"Jeremy. No, different uniform." So, a junior named Jeremy. Eren and Levi looked at each other, clearly acknowledging that they had to find this Jeremy. 

"Alright cool. Where are you from, by the way?"

"Germany." Levi raised an eyebrow, looking at Eren now.

"Eren, aren't you German?" Eren frowned.

"Yeah, how did you know?"

"Armin let it slip. Shouldn't you speak some German if you're German?"

"Pffft, no. I never had any use so it just sort of all faded away once I got to about 10." Levi rolled his eyes, his attention turning back to the exchange student. 

"So, I guess he's going to English with you then."

"WHAT?! No, no WAY! I-"

"-Found him and now you've gotten us both stuck in this mess and if I wanted I could walk away right now and just not help you at all, so what you're trying to say is thank you very much, Levi, what great plan of yours and I'll see you later," Levi said, an award-winning fake smile plastered on his face.

"Yes, captain Levi."

"Don't call me that." And with that, Levi walked off, waving at both Eren and the exchange student.

"So... um... We don't know where your buddy is so until we find him, you're with us for the day? We're going to English."

"Oh, okay." The German boy smiled and followed Eren to said English class.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They managed to get in just as the bell went. Thankfully, the teacher didn't even batter an eye at them as they walked in. That is until miss saw an unfamiliar face.

"And whom do I have the pleasure of fostering for the lesson? What class is being wagged?"

"No class miss, this is my German exchange student!"

"I see... Welcome." The teacher smiled, going back to doing whatever it is she did. 

"Hey," Connie whispered, grinning devilishly over at Eren. "I didn't know you signed up for a buddy. Hell, I didn't even know you could."

"That's because you can't and I didn't," Eren said, sliding into his seat once he'd seated the student next to him. "I found him."

"You found him?!"

"Yeah, he's lost his buddy but it's a junior and I have no fucking clue who he is. So, here we are! Levi and I are sharing him for the day while we try and find his buddy."

"You're sharing him? Eren, he's not property!"

"I know that." Eren hissed, putting a smile on his face to once more address his new buddy.

"So-"

"What's his name?" Connie said, grabbing Eren's shoulder. The brunette froze. Shit, I didn't even ask. 

"That, my friend, is a good question." He turned back to the boy. "What's your name by the way?" The boy beamed.

"Audrick." Eren spun back around.

"His name is Audrick."

"I heard, I'm not fucking deaf!"

"I hope that you two are doing work back there." Miss peered over her glasses. The two friends grumbled their affirmations. Eren did indeed go back to his work when he felt a hand tap on his shoulder. 

"Um, what should I do?"

"Oh, right! Um, just work on some of your work that you have or something."

"You couldn't have used more complex English, idiot." Connie snorted, to which Eren glared at.

"Okay, I will do that." Audrick smiled, grabbing some scary looking papers out of his bag. Eren sighed. Fuck you, Connie.

Thankfully the rest of English went without a hitch, Eren and Connie got up to their usual stuff working on their essays while Audrick worked on whatever it was he was working on. Sometimes he'd even ask Eren for help with the English, which was good for Eren because he felt terrible ignoring the poor guy. Not that he didn't particularly want to talk to Audrick, but more like he didn't really have anything to say. 

Eren began walking in the direction of his next class, the dreaded maths class, along with Connie until he once again felt a tug on his shoulder sleeve.

"I have go to international block for English class, so I see you later."

"Oh, um, okay. Cool. I'll meet you where we met, okay?" Audrick nodded with a smile before heading off. Eren quickly texted Levi telling him the new plans.

"You're really way out of your depth." Connie cackled, earning a punch in the shoulder. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After somehow miraculously distancing himself from Connie aftermaths, Eren began to curve around the crowd in order to meet up with Levi and Audrick. Levi hadn't replied to his text, but Eren had no choice but to assume he'd seen it. It was either that or turn over the thought that Levi had ditched him in terms of the whole ordeal. 

Soon enough Eren came upon the spot and saw that both Levi and Audrick were already standing there. Levi waved him over without a smile.

"Hey, I was thinking you weren't gonna show." Eren snorted. 

"You thought I wasn't gonna show? You didn't even reply to my text." Levi frowned at that.

"Yeah, I did."

"No," Eren said, pulling out his phone to show Levi, "You didn't." Levi also dug out his phone to show Eren a message in a bar that remained unsent.

"Dude, you forgot to press send." Levi quickly turned the phone back around and huffed.

"Whoops. Anyway, what's going on like what are we doing?"

"Well, I think our best shot is to ask around junior tutor teachers to see which students actually signed up for an exchange student."

"Good idea." Levi turned to Audrick. "So, do you know who your buddy's tutor teacher is?"

"Tutor teacher?" Audrick said with a slightly confused expression, also a touch of fear. 

"Like, the teacher of Jeremy. The class he goes to every morning before classes start."

"OH oh um.. I am not sure, it has a G at the beginning."

"Alright cool. What teachers do we know that have a G in it?"

"Ganner, Gilbert-"

"Junior ones, I mean Eren. You know, considering we're looking for a junior one."

"Shut up. Okay then, um... Gallant? She's one, isn't she?

"Yeah, she is. That's a start I guess and if it's not then we can always ask her for some more teachers."

"Yeah, cool."

"Come on then Audrick, let's go find your Jeremy.

"Thank you." He said with a smile.

They walked around the school to try and find miss Gallant's class and eventually did stumble upon it. In the time span, it took them to make it to the class, their conversations had begun shakily and built up, before dwindling down into nothing. Eren was just thankful that it wasn't raining. They walked up the step, Eren almost tripping after trying to skip one step too many. Thankfully for Eren Audrick was looking the other way, but Levi snorted as he walked past, giving Eren a knowing look. Needless to say, Eren's face heated up.

They stepped into the too-cold classroom, looking around for the desk. Miss Gallant sat there, looking bright and bubbly. She looked up to see strangers in her class and raised an eyebrow.

"How can I help you, three gentlemen?"

"Audrick here has lost his exchange buddy, and his tutor teacher's name starts with a G so we thought it might be you." 

"What's his name?" 

"Jeremy." Miss Gallant clucked her tongue.

"Sorry boys, I don't have a Jeremy in my class. There's two other teachers who start with G that teach Juniors, which I assume you're looking for, who are both away at a conference today." Eren's heart sank, looking over to Levi.

"That's alright miss, thank you anyway." Miss Galant shooed them away telling them to enjoy the sun, and after walking a ways away from the class Eren turned back to Levi.

"Now what?"

"I guess our last thing is to start asking actual juniors."

"I actually wanted to spend my Friday not talking to random strangers, thanks."

"You have a better idea?"

"...No."

"Exactly, so shut up and let's go asking around for a Jeremy," Eren grumbled an affirmative reply, motioning for Audrick to follow. It wasn't long before a junior popped up.

"God, they're swarming like bees around a hive."

"Eren quit being a dick and go ask."

"Fuck you," Eren mumbled, however doing as told. He bounded up to a loneliness year 10 who was just flicking through his phone. Upon hearing Eren's approach he looked up, quirking up an eyebrow. 

"Uhh, hi?"

"Hi, um do you know any Jeremy's?"

"No...?"

"Oh um- okay. Cool, sweet. Thank you." Eren ducked away, feeling a blush creep up onto his cheeks. When Levi caught sight of the embarrassed teenager he let out a bark of laughter. 

"What did the poor guy do to you, offer to suck your dick?" Eren shoved past, only making Levi laugh even more.

"I hate this, I can't talk to strangers. You're doing the next one."

"Alright, alright," Levi said raising his hands up defensively, a faint smile still dancing on his lips. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"So, what you're saying is you do know a Jeremy, and he also has a German exchange student named Audrick?" Eren said, longing for a pillow beneath his head and a blanket over his body.

"Yeah, that's why I said it."

"Great," Levi said, "Where is he?"

"I don't know, at some place where he said that they'd meet if they got separated. I would have thought that Audrick would have told you guys." The younger boy said, frowning at the exchange student. Eren took a deep breath to ground himself, and put a large, tired, probably insane-looking smile upon his face.

"Thank you for your wonderful, wonderful help and contribution to our search. It has been ever helpful and I'm sure that you will be rewarded with a long and happy life." Eren clapped his hands together, spinning on his heel to head back to where Audrick was awkwardly standing.

"So,"He clapped his hands together. "We just fond one of his friends and apparently you two have a spot you agreed to meet at if you got separated, correct?" Audrick's face lit up.

"Oh, oh yes! I remember now. It is, by international block."

"Great, lets' get going!" Eren exclaimed, already heading forward. He breathed in and out, trying to clear his head. 

He didn't blame Audrick at all, and he didn't mind helping the lost poor boy either, it was the shitty people he'd had the deal with for the entirety of his lunchtime. He'd been jerked around, people telling him that they knew him but turns out it was the wrong Jeremy even though Eren had specifically given them guidelines as to if it was the right Jeremy or not, they'd told him nothing sometimes or lied to him. Eren had reached his limit, and if it weren't for Levi also having to deal with the amounts of shitty people, he would have given up after the first five people. 

They had done it though, they had succeeded by finally finding some kid who knew who and where Jeremy was, and just in time too as the bell was due to go in ten minutes. Eren Levi and Audrick came up to the building of the international block, and instantly Eren saw some kid outside having the exact same worried and scared expression Aurdrick had when Eren first saw him that morning. Eren waved to get his attention, failing to do so resulted in him shouting out. The boy jumped, looking over shocked before breathing a sigh of relief and running over.

"Oh my gosh, there you are! I've been looking for you all day."

"Yeah, so have we," Eren replied saltily, Levi elbowing him in the side. 

"Shut up." He mumbled only so that Eren could here.

"Thank you for helping me." Audrick said, smiling to Eren and Levi.

"It's all goods." Eren said. He and Levi said their goodbyes, walking away as quickly as they could.

"Do you just wanna hang out for the rest of lunch seeing as there's like, five minutes left?" 

"Yeah, sounds good."

"Fuck man, what were the chances that this would happen? Why did you have to fucking stumble upon him?" Eren laughed in return.

"It was an accident, trust me! I mean, not to say that I regret helping him or that I really minded, but hell I was ready for just another chill Friday before the weekend but bam, adventure awaits! As Hanji would say." Levi laughed a soft one that sent an unusual feeling punching in Eren's gut.


	9. Total homo- Did I say homo? I meant no homo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren and Levi head out on their day out to a place Eren's never been to- and is pleasantly surprised by a day he wasn't expecting much out of. It rains, Eren breaks shit, Levi's scared of bridges. Enjoy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took me a while to write but I actually really enjoyed it~

Eren awoke to the sound of beeping beside his head, as well as his bed vibrating slightly as the buzzing bedside beside him nicked the edge. Blind, Eren searched with his hand over the table attempting to grab his phone, failing by instead knocking it off. He groaned, forcing his eyes open and rubbing the sleep out of them. Leaning over, he picked up the phone. He squinting as his eyes adjusted to the bright light, his curtains drawn tightly to keep out any excess light. 

Hey, you still up for today? If you are I was wondering what we're gonna do because we didn't really get to discuss it on Friday thanks to our little extravaganza adventure. 

Eren groaned, setting the phone down on his lap as the rest of his body slowly took it's time to wake up. He did, but then he didn't at the same time. On one hand, he could see and hang out with Levi and build their friendship, but on the other hand, he was tired and wanted to continue sleeping for ten million years. What even is the time? Eren checked, his body slacking as he read 10:34 pm. He let out a loud 'Arrghhhh'. He could make up an excuse not to hang out, say that he had to spend the day with Mikasa or something. Or you could not be a lazy little fuck and actually be social a little voice whispered. Sighing, Eren picked up the phone again. 

Hey, yeah I'm up for something still. I haven't really given it much though haha. What are you wanting to do? I'm good for anything. It didn't take long for a reply.

Cool. How does Town sound?

Nah, I'm kinda sick of it from going there all the time. Armin's recently gotten hooked on this Star bucks drink and now I feel sick whenever I pass it :/ What about the beach? It'll probably be too cold to go later in the year until like, you know, exams are over.

Eren have you even looked outside today?

Wait

You are awake, right?

Well I am now

Eren it's 10 fucking 30

Eren laughed at Levi's disbelief, even the sense of sleepiness fading from his mind as the fogginess cleared. 

And? I'm young, let me live.

How can you live if you're spending all that time sleeping?

What can I say, I'm a mess

No shit. Anyway, the only other place I can really think of is the greenhouse 

Eren frowned.

The greenhouse?

Yeah, the greenhouse. You know the thing with the plants in it

I know what a greenhouse is, I just meant that I didn't know there was a public one.

Yeah, just outside of town. Sound good? Otherwise, we could call it off unless you can think of a better idea.

Eren yawned as he stood, replying with lazy, dead-weight fingers.

Yeah, no greenhouse sounds fun. Can we meet somewhere though since I don't know where to go?

No, I was gonna leave you to find it yourself. Brat, of course, we'll meet somewhere.

Where?

The reply took a bit longer. 

Star bucks.

What?? Levi I just told you how much I hated it??!? Read.

Levi????? Read.

Dude wtf.

Ugh. Fine. Star bucks it is then. 

"Asshole," Eren said, tossing the phone onto his bed as he made his way over to open the curtains. There was a faint buzz and when Eren looked over to check his screen, a singular :) was awaiting him as Levi's reply.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Where are you off to in such a hurry? You only just woke up." Mikasa said over her shoulder upon hearing Eren enter the kitchen. She sat in front of the couch, moving her fingers effortlessly as she played some old game on the Wii. 

"Heading out with Levi, didn't know it was so late."

"I can't believe you're leaving me for Levi." Mikasa huffed. "Leaving me to the insufferable, unholy clutches of boredom. A fate worse than death"

"Hm. Sorry about that." Eren huffed, eating toast that had just popped out the toaster. "What about Sasha?" He mused. 

"She's ditched me for Connie, of course. They're going on some bush walk." Eren looked out at the sky with a puzzled expression on his face. He pointed, toast in hand.

"But it's raining."

"You really think it'd stop those two? Besides, they're going because it's raining. Where are you going to anyway?"

"Some greenhouse Levi said we have." Mikasa snorted.

"Just be sure that he doesn't stab you when you're not looking, it's kind of remote up there."

"What? You're telling me you knew about it?" His sister shrugged.

"Knew of it, never really been myself."

"Well, whatever. He's not gonna stab me. I hope." Eren muttered at the end. 

"If you say so. I'd hurry if I were you, considering you're probably taking the 11:00 bus."

"Shit, what's the time?" Eren said, picking out his phone from the depths of his pocket.

"You have eight minutes." This time it was Mikasa's turn to sound amused. Eren muttered a series of 'shits' and 'fucks' and other foul language. He raced out the door, yelling a goodbye to his laughing sister inside.

He just managed to catch the bus, having to run a bit which made his face turn red. He hoped it would disappear before he reached town. It was a slow ride due to midday rainy traffic, and there were thankfully only a few people on the bus. Eren had completely calmed down in terms of face colour, as the cold had slowly reached through his whole body, making him wish that he'd worn something a bit warmer. He got off the bus, looking around for Levi as he walked over to the dreaded Star Bucks. He stomach lurched at the smell, not in disgust or distaste but at the fact that he was afraid the scent had lodged itself permanently inside his brain and he would never smell anything ever again. He waited outside, refusing to go in and texted Levi exactly that.

Levi showed a few minutes later, usual death-glaring face with his dark aura and completely bundled up in warm clothes. Eren couldn't help but chuckle. Levi huffed, explaining how when you're smaller you get colder easier. Eren didn't believe it for a second. 

"So, where is this greenhouse?"

"Just up this path that's not too far from here. It's like at the back of the Sina Retirement home place, you know that big garden with all the roses?"

"Oooh, okay. I had no idea there was a greenhouse there."

"Neither did I. Hanji was just walking around there one day being weird and doing nature shit when he found it. Dragged Erwin there and then literally dragged my ass out of bed at five in the fucking morning to see it." Eren laughed, bending over slightly from the effort. Levi just glared, bumping into Eren's shoulder forcefully.

It didn't take them too long to get up the widening footpath leading up to the open field where the garden was, and behind that, the greenhouse. In all honesty, it slightly took his breath away.

It was small, maybe as a large as a relatively roomy classroom. There was some vines creepy around the sides and the door as well as the window, and flowers hung up around the walkway leading into the small building. There were caution signs everywhere, not looking out of place or even ugly. Levi lead Eren over to the door, running a hand along the green stained glass windows. Levi carefully opened the door, letting Eren through before shutting it gently behind them again. 

The smell of Star Bucks instantly left Eren's mind, evaporating as there was an onslaught of fragrance. Flowers and fruits, dirt and water and stone. Eren didn't bother to try and hold back his smile. 

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Levi said, noticing the look on Eren's face.

"Yeah. Is it always like this?"

"Not when it's five in the morning it's not," Levi said, continuing his walk. Eren just smiled, looking around the room. 

It was dark but it was light, shadows falling everywhere but light lighting up the room in others. The rain pattering on the tin roof echoed throughout the greenhouse, adding to the magical effect of it. There were plants and flowers behind a large glass wall, while you could reach up and down and touch things all around you. Levi stood back as Eren walked around the room, letting himself curiously handle the petals of flowers and prettily potted plants. Eren could hear Levi walking leisurely on the other side of the plant wall separating between them, the sound of rushing water filling the room with a peaceful glaze. Eren turned around to go and walk over to a banana bunch when something fell in front of him

And it was loud.

A slight crash sound rang out, and suddenly Levi was right by Eren with a pissed off and alarmed look on his face.

"What the hell did you do?" He demanded, not harshly. 

"Nothing!" Eren exclaimed, looking at what had fallen. To Eren's complete and utter dismay, it was a plant. Eren looked up to see that it had become unhinged, the clasp still swaying slightly. 

"It must have been the draft," Levi said, eyeing up the vent next to it. "You're tall, but even you're not tall enough to reach it."

"Of course I didn't do it, I'm not that careless," Eren said mouth agape.

"Yeah yeah, now we just need to figure out a way to put it back up there," Levi said, still looking thoughtfully at the plant now laid before them. Eren stared, his mind having drawn a blank. 

"I mean, we could always just leave it-"

"Don't be an ass Eren, of course, we can't leave it." Eren continued staring before an idea popped into his head, and a smile took over his face. He turned slowly to Levi, who raised an eyebrow at the possibilities of what Eren could be proposing.

"What?"

"You could stand on my shoulders and hook it back up."

"No."

"Levi-"

"No way, brat. There is no way I am going to stand on your shoulders however far off the ground to fix a plant. No way."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I wish I never met you," Levi growled, stabilizing himself as he clung to Eren, terrified. Eren laughed.

"You know you love me." He smiled, adjusting his weight to hold Levi up. 

"Whatever, idiot." Levi finally slowly raised up on his knees, shaking violently. 

"Careful, please don't drop it."

"Maybe I should, right on your head." Levi mused, tentatively hovering it over Eren's head. He would have swatted him away is Levi wasn't currently balancing on his shoulders like some sort of acrobat. 

Levi leaned up slowly, hooking the plant back into its usual place. The only problem, is that it was too much on a lean and there was a danger of it falling off again.

"Eren," Levi said, lowering himself back down to crouch on the brunette's shoulders. "I'm gonna need you to move to the left slightly."

"What? But what if I lose my balance?"

"Just do it." Eren complied, grumbling. He moved to the left, step by step, until Levi pet Eren on the head as a sign to stop. 

"Steady, steady..." Levi mumbled, concentrating as he readjusted the plant. Behind them, not far away they heard voices. Then they heard the footsteps. Eren and Levi looked at each other and the exact same time, eyes wide, realizing that they were about to be busted.

"Shit!" They both hissed, Levi scampering off Eren's shoulders. 

"What do we do?" Eren asked, looking up at their handiwork while Levi's eyes made the same path.

"I mean it doesn't look terrible, and if people are gonna come in we don't have much time to fix it. Let's just go, the gardeners come around four anyway."

"Sounds like a plan." Eren nodded, looking around wildly. "Is there a backdoor or anything?"

"No, but if we go around a bit and hide behind that tree over there we can sneak around and out."

"Providing they don't see us or one set of people go one way and one goes the other."

"Providing all of that, yes." Levi nodded. The two started moving just as the door swung open and voices filled the cool, crisp air. 

"AHHHH FUCK YOU!" Laughter followed, laughter coming from at least a couple people. Eren gestured wildly at Levi, trying his best to communicate the concern he had. Levi simply rolled his eyes, slowly creeping forward. They waited a while, before Levi frantically whispered. 

"Go go go!" They walked with long silent strides, until Eren slipped on a patch of water and slid into the side of a fence.

"What was that?" Someone asked.

And that was when Eren and Levi ran.

They began running around the edges, and Eren not being able to contain his laughter let out a shriek of it.

"Who's there?" More voices started speaking, but both Eren and Levi paid it no mind. Levi carefully opened the door, Eren rushing Levi to hurry up and open. The two practically fell out of the door once it swung open, and Eren had to stop himself from slamming it behind him. Eren let out a couple hoots, Levi also letting out a soft laugh in front of him. They picked up speed, running down a small hill before shitting up another side of it. 

What Eren had completely forgotten about in the past ten minutes was that it had been softly raining outside when they entered the greenhouse.

And now it was pouring down. 

Eren opened his mouth to taste the strange taste of rain, and the peculiar smell shot up straight to his brain. Man, I could get high off this. Soon his clothes were completely soaked through, his hair a wet mop, and he could barely see. All he knew was that he was following Levi down a path, although it didn't look like the one they had previously walked up from.

"WHERE ARE WE GOING?" He yelled, his voice competing against the constant beating sound of rain. If Levi heard him, he didn't answer. They continued running until street lights came into view and the sound of shoes on pavements and cars on road and window wipers came into Eren's senses. He followed Levi closely, still feeling exhilarating as adrenaline filled his veins and overtook his thoughts and actions. 

Eventually, Eren put two and two together that they were heading to Levi's car, and as Eren was about to hop in Levi ushered him away. Eren stood, not too bothered by the rain but more puzzled than anything. Levi hurridly opened the boot and pulled out a few towels, covering them before lining them on the seats. He nodded at Eren, signing that he could now get in. 

The two scrambled into the car, loose droplets of water dripping all over the towels. Eren shivered despite not feeling the cold, his adrenaline only just finally calming down. Eren looked over at Levi to see that he was a complete mess, soaked all the way and he did not look very happy. Eren let out a short burst of laughter, earning a glare from Levi.

"Y-you're soaked!" He laughed, doubling over. 

"Eren you're getting water everywhere!" Levi yelled, pushing the laughing boy further back into his seat. "Plus," Levi huffed, falling back into his own seat. "You're not much better yourself, drowned rat." Eren's laughs didn't cease until ten minutes later, Levi having begun to ignore him after the first five.

"That was crazy! I hope the plant doesn't fall on one of their heads. What is it fell when we slammed the door?"

"It didn't slam, idiot. Besides, if it did fall it's hardly our fault is it? We didn't knock it off."

"Why did we even run? Who cares if they saw that it had fallen off and we were putting it back."

"Because how the hell could we explain the situation, it looked dodgy as fuck!"

"True, true." The two fell into a comfortable silence, Eren looking out the window longingly at the rain. He'd always loved the rain, loved running through it and feeling heat spread throughout his body despite the wind and water.

"Alright, I think these seats are just about wet all the way through," Levi said, looking over at Eren, smiling faintly. "You wanna go get something to eat?"

"Yeah, sure. One problem."

"And what's that?"

"We are, like you said, completely soaked. What are we gonna do if no one actually lets us in?"

"Dude it's fucking raining, of course people are gonna be wet."

"Yeah, but not soaking."

"Okay, so we can just use the dryest part of these towels to get off the excess water. What are they gonna do, kick us out?"

"You never know," Eren muttered, putting the tip of his towel over his head. Levi did the same, and after a lot of constricted movements and butting body parts together, the two boys were as dry as they could get with semi-wet towels.

"Alright, next order of business. Where to?"

"I'm good with any place."

"Not helpful, Levi."

"Okay, okay. There's this nice cafe, it's kinda cheap. You wanna go there? We could probably walk because it's not that far."

"Okay, cool. Sounds good." Eren said, getting out of the car. Levi also emerged a moment later, umbrella in hand. He rolled his eyes.

"Get under the umbrella, idiot. We just got dry you really wanna get wet again?" Eren sent Levi a devilish smile as he walked over to stand under what little shelter the umbrella provided. 

"Lead the way, Levi," Eren said over the rain, sticking his hand out into the rain.

The walk along the brick tiled walkway that curved through down, and sometimes a little bit of shelter was provided from the looming shops overhead. The rain pattered down harshly on every surface, creating a symphony of sounds. Eren stood in too many puddles to count, and each time Levi would scold him and tell him to be more careful. Eren made the mistake of playfully pushing Levi into one of the puddles. The place where Levi's heel dug in to was still stinging when they entered the small corner cafe. 

They stepped inside, and it was noted how instantly the temperature changed. It was warm, and the blue and white lighting was soft as it fell on every surface in the cafe. It was practically empty, not a surprise as the rain was progressing from light to heavy. Eren looked around the room, shaking to umbrella off outside while Levi waited just inside the building. 

It was small, which was the most obvious thing in Eren's sight. There weren't many lights, but they were relatively powerful and the place was well lit. Well, in the centre anyway. The outside seats and booths were draped in darkness. The seats were white and blue to match the theme of the room, and there were paintings and photos decorating the place. 

"Hurry up, you're letting all the cold air out." Eren jokingly pulled his tongue out at Eren as he entered the building properly. He looked up at the menu, seeing all of the usual looking cafe food selections. 

"You ever been here before?" Eren asked.

"Once, with Erwin. It was nice, I think I just had some of his french toast."

"Why didn't you get anything?"

"I wasn't hungry, we were just in a rush and Erwin needed something to eat."

"Right."

"What do you think you'll get?"

"Savoury muffin probably. You?"

"I'm not sure. Maybe just French toast, they were nice last time."

"Who's ordering?"

"Why don't we just do it separately?"

"Why the hell would we do that?! Honestly Levi, the things you say."

"Fine, but for that, you can go order them. I'll pick a seat."

"Fine." Eren walked up to the counter, smiling at the girl who was waiting to take his order.

"Hey, what can I get you?"

"A savoury muffin and french toast, please." She tapped in the order. 

"Alright, that'll be $14.90 please." Eren handed over the cash. "I'll bring it to your table."

"Thanks." Eren smiled, picking up their order number and walked to the selection of seats in the centre of the cafe. Only thing was, Levi wasn't in any of them. Eren continued to walk around and finally spotted him sitting in a side booth, looking out the window along with his head resting on the cold glass. Eren sat himself down, chuckling.

"Levi, you're hair's still wet remember. You're gonna catch a cold." Levi flicked his eyes over to Eren before shrugging his shoulders, sitting up properly.

"It's a miracle if I'm not already sick though, you know since we just ran through the rain."

"I guess."

"So how much was it?"

"$15 or something."

"That's pretty good."

"You did say it was cheap."

"Shut up." Levi smiled, leaning over on the table slightly. He looked at Eren, almost as if he were inspecting the taller male. Eren thought that it would end rather quickly, but after a minute or two Eren finally asked what he was doing.

"I thought I saw a bug on you. Guess it was just the lighting." Levi replied, leaning back in his seat instantly.

"What lighting? You picked the darkest spot in the whole place, and I mean literally the whole place because there's no one else here!" Levi just shrugged. 

"I don't like being in the centre of places."

"Well I didn't know that, did I?"

"There's a lot of things you don't know about me."

"Hey, how about we play one of those question games."

"I swear we've already done that before."

"Who cares? Like you said, there's still lots that we still don't know about each other."

"Alright then. What's something you believe in?" Eren paused for a moment, thinking. Then he broke out in a mischievous smirk.

"Kissing a slug is good luck." Once in year three, Armin heard from a kid that kissing a slug gave you good luck like helped you find ten cent coins. Of course, when Eren went to go kiss a slug Mikasa hit him over the head calling his stupid and that it was a bad idea and he might die. Levi raised an eyebrow, resting on his elbows and forearms.

"Guess I'll just have to kiss you next time I have a test." A heartbeat passed before a smile broke out on Eren's face, and in another heartbeat, he was howling with laughter. 

"You-" He tried to say, failing. Levi laughed. 

"You what?"

"You asshole, I'm not a fucking slug!" Eren continued to laugh, now banging his fist on the table. 

As far as worst timings go, this was one of the worst times for the waitress to bring their food over. Eren tried to rein in his belts and fits of laughter, but he couldn't manage it.

"Jeeze Eren, chill. It wasn't that funny." He snorted, looking up at the girl. "Sorry about him. Thank you." She set down the food, smiling at Eren. After telling them the usual 'enjoy your meal' ordeal, she walked off, leaving Levi to deal with Eren who was in a right mess. 

"Seriously dude, calm down."

"Levi you called me a fucking slug and said that you'd kiss me still" He continued laughing, so hard that he didn't catch the expression that lashed across Levi's face.

"Well, I mean you gotta do what you gotta do to pass a test right?" 

Eren was still chuckling and giggling as he bit into his muffin. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You know, since the rain stopped we should walk across that bridge. I've always wanted to but Mikasa's scared of bridges." Eren said, peering up at the sky.

They'd been in the cafe for at least 45 minutes, playing their get to know each other game and eating. They'd also ended put pooling their money together to share some fries. When they exited the cafe the umbrellas stayed down, the rain having stopped not too long ago. 

"Yeah, sure. I don't think I've ever been on it either."

"Really? Cool!" Eren beamed, beginning to walk faster towards the bridge.

It was a bridge that had been built to carry trains across, but when there was an accident and the rails went haywire it went out of use. They'd decided that instead of leaving it as a potential danger hazard for stupid reckless teenagers, they would re-make it into a bridge people could walk across and fish on. Eren practically bounded up the steps, leaving Levi a few steps behind. 

"Slow down, brat." 

"Sorry." Eren smiled as he came to a stop. Levi just shook his head. Eventually, they completed their little walk along the path that lead up to the bridge and they stepped on, Eren noticing that Levi was a little hesitant. A smile broke out on his face.

"What, you scared?"

"Shut the fuck up Jaeger," Levi growled, stepping up next to Eren, not meeting the taller boys eyes. 

"Priceless," Eren whispered, smiling. 

The water beneath them swayed with the wind, heavy waves overlapping each other with each strong burst of the wind. Eren peered over the edge, wondering what it would be like to jump off into the angry waves. 

"Don't even think about it." Levi warned, pulling Eren away from the edge.

"It's not like I actually would, too cold for that." Eren playfully shrugged Levi off. 

"Right." The two walked in silence, a silence that often came over their conversations in times like this. Eren stole a quick glance at Levi to see his all too-pale face.

"Hey, Levi, if you're scared of heights or whatever it is you should have told me. We can get off you know, it's no big deal."

"No, it's fine. I'm just not feeling very well. Must have been all the fried shit." Eren frowned at Levi's obvious bluff. I need to distract him. 

"Hey, let's play truth or dare."

"Why?"

"For fun, duh. I'll go first."

"Fine. You're getting just as bad as Hanji, playing stupid fucking kid games."

"Shut up and just ask." Levi huffed, looking around for inspiration. 

"Truth or dare."

"Dare."

"I dare you to buy me lunch sometime this week."

"Asshole."

"Your turn."

"Truth or dare?"

"Truth." This time it was Eren's turn to look around thoughtfully. His mind drew a blank, as he'd never really been able to think of things on the spot. Why the hell did I choose this game of all games?

"Have you ever been addicted to something?" Shit. Who the fuck asks that question? Levi seemed to be thinking the same thing by his confused frown. 

"Uh, no..." he trailed off, but looked away to show that he was done with his answer. Suspicion clawed at Eren. 

"Truth or da-"

"No, no stop right there. This is a game of TRUTH or dare, not LIE and dare. I know when you're lying, what's this something you've been addicted to?"

"Eren-" Said boy leaned himself against the bars, faking fear. 

"It couldn't be- you're a drug dealer? Is that why Hanji's always so crazy and Erwin's so calm? Because she's high all the time and he's stoned? Levi how could you I trusted you!" Levi rolled his eyes, but his eyes seemed distant, and his body went rigid. Please don't tell me I'm right. Dear god.

"Eren I'm not a fucking drug dealer now would you please get away from the edge?"

"Oh," Eren leaned himself further into the bars. "You mean this edge?" 

"Eren I'm serious, get off the fucking bars."

"If you tell me what you're addicted to."

"Just get off the bars Eren, for fuck's sake. And I'm not addicted to anything."

"Oh, but you were?"

"Eren just-"

"Could it be that the great, terrifying Levi is afraid of being so close to the edge? Of falling? Or can he just not swim?" 

"You think I'm terrifying?" Levi snorted, crossing his arms. The movement was stiff, fear having filled his muscles and bones. 

"No, but that German exchange student the other day did."

"I was helping him!"

"You've just got that scary look on your face. You're like the grim reaper, maybe embracing you would be embracing death." Levi relaxed, a soft laugh escaping his tight lips while his arms dropped delicately to his sides. 

"Eren, now could you please-" Before he could finish his sentence, Eren reached out to grab Levi's arm. Once he had a tight grip on it, he pulled Levi closer to him, closer to the bars. The only protection from the violent waves below. 

"Eren what the fuck are you doing let me go," Levi said, already trying to push away as soon as his first foot was forced forward. 

"Calm down Levi, here I'll show you that it's not that scary."

"Eren stop it." Eren continued to pull Levi closer, pressing his against Eren's chest. Levi continued to try and push away, but instead of going backwards he miscalculated his weight and fell in place next to Eren. Eren locked his arm around Lev's waist, keeping him in place. Levi was definitely stronger than Eren, they'd discovered this while playing a game of Hanji's own creation, but the fear restricted every movement he made so that he couldn't push Eren's arm away.

"Eren, this is fucking-"

"Hey, just calm down, alright? Breath. Close your eyes."

"No wonder Mikasa didn't want to come on this fucking bridge with you."

"Yeah well, you're not Mikasa, so shut up and breath."

"Eren this is fucking terrifying just let me go."

"Levi, please just breath. Listen to the waves."

"I hate you," Levi muttered, closing his eyes as Eren said. Eren smiled, looking at Levi's face which managed to look frozen in fear but completely calm. Eren closed his eyes also, securing his arms around Levi's hips to make him feel safer. He listened and felt as Levi's heart rate dropped, and he watched how Levi's chest rose and fell at a softer pace.

"Are you-"

"Cheese," Levi said, opening his eyes suddenly. "I was addicted to cheese." Eren blinked once. Twice. Then removed his arm and stepped away. Levi took a moment to look over the edge before stepping away from the bars and begun to walk forward along the bridge. He stuffed his shaking hands into his pockets.

"Seriously?!" Eren exclaimed, catching up with Levi. "We went through all of that just because you're addicted to cheese? Cheese?!"

"Was," Levi corrected, finally looking back up at Eren. "For about six weeks I couldn't stop eating cheese. My sister thought I'd been replaced with some sort of changling mouse. It was Hanji's job to feed my addiction while Erwin tried to find a cure."

"And?"

"Eventually I'd eaten so much cheese I threw up. I've never been able to look at it the same way since." Eren laughed, similar to how he'd laughed in the cafe. After Eren had wiped away all of his little tears, and his laughter had reduced completely and been snatched away by the wind, the two returned to their awkwardly comfortable silence. 

"Hey, Levi, I'm sorry for forcing you against the bars. I just thought that if you could get over your fear it might be more fun since you're too fucking stubborn to go back." Levi didn't reply. Eren looked away, slightly embarrassed. Shit.

"It's fine, it wasn't as bad with you there," Levi said, dead-pan. Eren couldn't help but smile.

"It was actually really nice, so... thanks. You should force Mikasa to come on here one day, maybe I can bond with her about the traumatizing experience." Eren's laughter returned, so hard and fast that he had to bury his face into his jacket to stop shaking the bridge. He was laughing so hard that he didn't catch the small smile Levi threw out to the sea.


	10. Fluff and Oranges

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Honestly the chapter title pretty much sums it up- fluff and oranges

Hanji squealed as Levi lunged for her, and let out a shriek of laughter as he missed my a handsbreadth.

"Hanji, give me my pen back."

"NEVER!" She waves the pen around singing some sort of tune that Eren couldn't recognise. Said boy currently had his hand sheltering his phone screen from the sun in order for him to see what was on his feed.

"Hanji, the point of this is to study, give Levi's pen back."

"This was your fucking idea!" Levi said angrily, throwing his hands up in exasperation. 

"Yeah, but you're the one who insulted me!"

"I said that you were distracting me"

"Exactly!" Eren breathed out a laugh, still trying to see the images on his phone. Levi sent a glare over to Eren before going for another reach to grab his pen. This time Hanji let him take it, smirking at him.

"So, what do you have next?" Eren looked up at Erwin, squinting his eyes to block out the burning sun. Erwin was sitting on the bench, somehow having the patience to read his book with Hanji and Levi squabbling every five minutes. 

"Uhhh maths I think. You?"

"Physics." Erwin turned the page.

"How the hell can you read with these two carrying on?" Levi gestured to Levi and Hanji who were currently ignoring each other. 

"I don't know, used to it I guess." Erwin shrugged. Silence continued to fill the space, as it usually did with Erwin. He was a reserved guy, like Levi, but it was harder to have a conversation with him. Eren didn't know what the boundaries were, when he was certain that Levi had about none. So, when in doubt, talk about school.

"Hey, you're in Armin's physics class aren't you?" Another page turned.

"Yep, he sits right up at the front though."

"Of course." Eren chuckled. "Can you please give him something for me next period then? I wanted to give it to him now but Connie's too energetic for me to deal with today." Erwin raised his eyebrows at that.

"Yeah, sure. What is it?"

"Just a practice English essay I want him to look over. My teacher's not exactly on the best terms with me at the moment." He rustled in his bag for a moment before passing it over.

"You know," Erwin began, "You could always ask Levi to have a look at it. That guy's a freaking master at English, mostly straight excellences."

"What?!" Erne exclaimed, whipping his head around to look at Levi whose brows were furrowed in a frown. He looked back at Erwin quickly. "That guy? He looks like the delinquent who fails English!"

"You definitely don't know much about Levi and his education then." Erwin smiled, returning to his book. Eren sat baffled, deflated, and picked back up his phone in disbelief. What the fuck. Eventually, the shock faded, and silence laid over the four like a blanket over a bed. A growl suddenly erupted from behind Eren, and the sound of a book slamming shut rang out. 

"Fuck this," Levi said, standing. 

"What are you doing?! You lose if you walk away Levi!"

"Like I care, don't you want to win anyway?" Haji beamed at that, closing her book shut with a loud 'snap.'

"Right! But still, round two?"

"No."

"Leviiii" She whined. 

"No, Hanji. Fuck off." Hanji continued to pout, before starlight erupted in his eyes and she turned to Erwin.

"Erwin, honey, come to play!"

"No thank you," Erwin said matter of factly, another page turning. 

"UUUggggHHH this sUCKS!" She yelled, flopping onto her back. This caught Eren's attention, and he looked up to see what all of her commotion was about. He smirked, pausing from scrolling.

"You lose, Hanji?"

"Hardly. " A voice said beside him. Before Eren could look up to see Levi he felt a warm something press into his back. Eren jumped slightly on the spot, turning his head to see the unexpected. 

Levi leaned against Eren, eyes closed as he let out a contempt sigh. Eren laughed, leaning into Levi's body. 

"You alright?" 

"No, I didn't come to school to babysit four eyes here." The rumble in Eren's chest grew louder. Eren let himself fall completely onto the wight of Levi, and luckily for the both of them, the shorted male was able to make up in strength for his lack of weight. His hand returned to sheltering the screen while Levi leaned there, eyes closed breathing deeply. Eren felt every intake and every let out, letting it calm him as well as Levi. He scrolled and scrolled, letting the rhythm of Levi's breathing and the sun relax him. 

Then, as quickly as it had come, it was taken away. Levi growled as his head was jerked upwards, Hanji having grabbed him in a headlock. Eren laughed as he pulled away from Levi's embrace, and Erwin soon joined him.

"You two, shut the fuck up." Levi ground out, managing to push Hanji away from him. Eren slapped the ground, and even Erwin had put his book down as he continued to smile. It was just something about seeing Levi get caught so off guard that sent Eren into his fit of laughter.

"Now, Eren! If you value your friend's life, you will do something for me."

"And what will that be, Hanji the great?"

"In earth-science, I defaced this pumpkin, and you must hold a conversation with it." Levi snorted, looking at Eren. Eren did the same.

"And why on Earth do you want me to do that? You know what- that doesn't even matter what do you mean if I value my friend's life? What are you gonna do, kill him?" Hanji smiled the devil's smile.

"Oh no, something much worse," She paused for dramatic effect. "I'll tickle him!"

"HAH! Levi, you're ticklish?"

"Shut. Up."

"Touchy subject." Erwin smiled, tucking his book back into his bag to watch the whole situation between his friends unfold.

"Wait, seriously?"

"Eren, drop it." Levi growled, glaring at Hanji.

"I don't believe you. Prove it." Eren gestured to Levi who's eyes thinned in hatred. 

"Hanji don't you fucking dare-" Hanji struck, practically tackling Levi to the ground just as he began to stand to make his escape from his insufferable fate. Once Hanji got a strong enough grip on him, she smiled at him sweetly before moving her hands t his neck. Levi continued to struggle, using his whole body.

"Stop! Stop!" Eren laughed, putting his hands out. "I'dd do it, I'll do it. I believe you." He smiled, doing his best to stifle his laughter. 

"Excellent!" Hanji let go of Levi, getting a glare from him anyway. Haji fished out an odd-looking orange from her bag and handed it over to Eren as if it were a hot potato. He held it out in front of him as if he were holding a theatre skull.

"Uh, hello beautiful fruit! I shall call you... Ozzball."

"Ozzball?" Levi snorted, rolling his eyes. Eren's lips twitched upwards. 

"You're looking quite stunning today, you don't look a day out of the ground?"

"Orange's come off trees, Eren."

"I know that!" Eren fake cleared his throat. "You're so beautiful, it's a wonder you're still alive."

"How romantic." Levi snorted.

"Shut it you or I'll get Hanji to tickle you. Oh, how you shine in the sun and how you are the ripest orange from the tree." Unfortunately for Eren, a small group of people walked by. Upon seeing Eren fingers began pointing and mouths began whispering Eren blushed slightly, realizing just how ridiculous the whole situation was. When Erwin Hanji and Levi all figured out what Eren was blushing at, the three of them burst out with laughter and snickers at their friend's misfortune. 

"Oh, miss orange, the things I'll do you for you."


	11. The Escapees

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren and Connie begin brainstorming for their new English project, Eren misses Levi, and Levi is a lad once more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear the main plot is coming in like, 2 chapters. This took forever to write because school hates me and I've had no time to write/been too tired to. It's not all that good, but enjoy!

"Fuck off, there is no way she would win."

"Oh yeah? How about you text and ask her?"

"No, she'll bite my head off!"

"No confidence in yourself then afterall, ey Eren?" Connie smirked at Eren who glared back. He looked away, huffing.

"Look, there is no way in hell Mikasa would win in a group Mario Kart tournament. She'd probably get mad and turn off the Wii-"

"Alright you guys at the back, time to listen up. For our next internal, it's worth 5 credits, and will carry on until the end of the term. It's a pair project, so make sure whoever you pick is able to do half the work. We're doing debate essays, which means you have to pick something that you can debate on." Someone raised his hand.

"Can it be on anything Miss?"

"It could be a piece of writing, a film, a painting, anything as long as it's something like that. Anything within those borders is fine. Now you don't have to work on it with each other, but you do have to have some sort of communication and make sure that it makes sense. Okay, we've only got five minutes left so I suppose you can all go early. Make sure not to leave it to the last minute, and don't forget to reference!" Miss had to raise her voice as the chatter started after she said 'five minutes', Connie and Eren included. The two began to exit the classroom, already having ideas pouring out of their mouths. 

"Oh we could do the scream, that'd be cool!"

"Or we could do a book because that's super easy if we've already done it for English."

"Eren I never read the books for English"

"It's a wonder you ever pass anything" Eren snorted, dropping his bag and dropping into his seat.

"Yeah. Anyway, I don't think a book is the best and maybe a painting's a bit hard considering we both know nothing about art"

"What about a song then?"

"A song?"

"Yeah, you know that's a type of art isn't it?"

"I suppose so. It'd have to be a meaningful one though right?"

"Not necessarily, we could choose a real shit song and talk about how yeah it's shit and the lyrics don't mean anything but it's just for a bop, you know."

"Man, too many options huh?"

"Yup." Eren popped on the P, leaning back in his chair slightly. Thomas walked into the class, and Connie instantly snatched him up to talk to him. Eren continued to balance on his chair, seeing how far he could test physics. 

One minute turned to five minutes, which turned to ten minutes. Connie continued talking to Thomas and Marco when the second boy entered the room, while Eren kept jotting down ideas for their English project. An odd lonely void filled Eren's stomach, as he couldn't find a way to engage himself in the other's conversation. I wonder what Levi's doing. Levi. He'd probably be hiding away in the shade, away from the sun and the bird shit splattered all over the benches that were exposed to the sun. It'd been a week since they'd hung out that weekend, and ever since then Eren had tried his best to spend as much time with Levi as possible. He was fun to talk to, good to joke around with and was just overall a really cool guy to hang out with. He wasn't afraid to admit that he may have a small infatuation with the smaller boy. 

"AYYYY ARMIN BUDDY!" Connie yelled, throwing his hands in the air. "Just talking about you! Did you do the physics homework?" Armin gave Connie a helpless smile, nodding.

"And you didn't, I'm guessing?"

"Nope! So it's a good thing that you did because even Marco didn't manage to do it."

"Hey, that's just because Jean came over!"

"Oh, Jean came to pay you a little visit? Did his little friend junior Jean come for a visit too-"

"Eren you can stop right there, thanks." Connie said, covering Eren's mouth his his hand. Eren snickered, pushing away Connie's hand and seeing Marco's face aflame. 

"Yeah, I agree with Connie Eren." Armin sat himself down. "Anyways, I heard there's a new cheesecake chocolate coming out, and since we're all poor I was thinking we could all chip in like 50 cents or something?" 

"Mmm, cheesecake." Eren looked up at the ceiling, and like a truck Eren was hit with the sudden taste and snell of cheesecake. He tried to shake it off, but it just wouldn't leave. The creaminess, the crumble and crunch of the base... it was almost intoxicating. He stood up abruptly, putting a hand on Connie's shoulder. 

"I must have cheesecake."

"What, why?"

"Because dear old Armin here has mentioned it and now I can't stop thinking about it."

"And you need me because...?"

"Because I'm offering for you to come with me, just gotta sneak out quickly."

"Yeah sure, sounds fun." Connie shrugged, standing also. Armin frowned however.

"I don't have my badge on me, miss Dael is borrowing its for a presentation."

"That's all goods, we'll be fine."

"What if you get caught?"

"We won't, we'll go the usual way because there's usually no teacher and when there is they know I always have the badge on me. It'll be fine, Armin." Eren waved his friend off, dragging Connie out the door behind him leaving Armin to watch on in worry.

Eren and Connie raced down the stairs, wanting to beat the bell so they wouldn't be late to their next class. 

"Okay, so I suppose a song it is then?"

"I don't know man, a painting isn't really a bad idea. It doesn't need to be super analytical, and if it does we can always look some shit up or bullshit. She 's an English teacher, not a fucking art teacher- Shit."

"What's wrong?" Connie craned his neck to see past Eren, but was pushed back by said boy. 

"Teacher, new one." 

"Damn." Connie murmered, looking around for a way out of school. Eren looked back around the corner, and saw that the teacher was preoccupied with a student. Eren smiled when he saw who it was.

Levi.

Levi was facing Eren and Connie, the teacher having his back towards them. Eren knew that he and Connie should get out of there, probably run across the field and get out that way. But there was just something interesting about Levi's stance, the small soft smile he had on his face and the relaxed aura he was giving Eren even though they were still so far away. 

Levi's eyes began to pan the area out in front of him lazily, when he caught Eren staring. His eyes widened slightly, and after a moment an eyebrow raised slightly. Not enough to give away that there were potential escapees there, however. Eren didn't look away, and neither did Levi. Eren could have sworn that a conversation passed through them.

What the hell are you doing, brat?

What does it look like, dick.

No badge?

And a stowaway to boot.

How can I help?

Distract?

Levi gave a small nod, and turned back to the teacher, speaking again. Levi then nodded subtly to Eren before beginning to turn and point to something. 

"Now!" Eren hissed, grabbing Connie by the wrist and bolting forward.

Well, sneak-running would be a more accurate description. The two did so along the grass area, dodged behind cars as they made their way through the car park and thankfully by the time Levi and the teacher had turned back around Eren and Connie had made it past. Levi had even managed to rotate himself completely, so that the teacher had his back facing Eren and Connie. When Eren and Levi made eye contact again, Eren blew Levi an overdramatic kiss. Needless to say, Levi's smile was nothing short of suspicious.


	12. Circumstances

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren gets an out of the ordinary text from Levi, and Eren gets to meet some of the fam

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this instead of studying for my internals, the life of a year 12 :')
> 
> Idk if anyone keeps up with these updates, but if you do, sorry they're so slow. School has literally been my entire life but after next week I'll be free to write as much gay fan fiction as my heart desires.  
> So anyways,
> 
> Not the best chapter, not the worst, but I hope you still enjoy.

You'd think waking up on a nice Sunday morning, the sun would be peering through the curtains, the birds would be tweeting and singing away, and the bed sheets would be perfectly ruffled while whoever was residing inside was breathing softly. They would then awake slowly, blink a couple times, and then wake up gradually accepting the new day.

Unfortunately for Eren this is but a fantasy, and as per usual his Sunday morning included his sheets half on the bed, half on the floor, the sun angled perfectly in order to shine through the tiny gap in the curtain, to pierce his eyes, and for the only sound outside his window to be children riding bikes, and the shouts of encouragement from their parents. His eyes were also shrivelled, like prunes, as he rubbed them continuously trying to get the sleep out of them. He reached under his pillow, then searched under the sheets before finally finding his phone face down on his bedside table. As almost every Saturday night usually went, Connie would send some dumb meme or video to their group chat consisting of pretty much their whole group at 10:00 pm, which would then spiral into a collection of memes and videos and gifs and so forth. Eren knew that he could ignore it, not answer and go straight to sleep, but the problem was that if you didn't read it as it went and you wanted to read it the next day, you'd have at least 200 messages sort through. 

So, of course, instead, Eren took the route of being bleary-eyed the next morning from staying awake until 3 am.

As routine again, Eren sat up, did his best to comb through his hair, ripped open the curtains while saying a big 'fuck you' to the clearly too-bright sun, and dragged himself from the warmth of his bed. 

"You look terrible," Mikasa said, raising her eyebrows as Eren came down from the stairs.

"You say that every morning." Eren sighed, grabbing a bowl from the dishwasher and pouring himself a bowl of cereal.

"That's because every morning you do look terrible. Also, as I have said many times before, I can hear you laughing at 2 am."

"And?" Eren took a large bite, frowned, and added more sugar. 

"And I need you to shut up. You might be content with lack of sleep, but I'm sure as hell not." Mikasa mockingly took a large spoonful of her cereal, spilling a drop of milk down her front. "Ah shit." She mumbled, grabbing a napkin.

"Ha! Maybe you should stop telling me what's so wrong about my life, and focus on the little things. Chill."

"How can I focus on the little things when the bigger things take up all my time." She paused for effect. "You, for example."

"Hey-" Eren's phone buzzed then, vibrating the table and causing Mikasa to snicker. 

"I don't get why you don't just mute it, that's what I do. Sasha mostly recaps it for me anyway." Eren read the screen briefly, shocked when he saw that it was Levi's name flashed across it. 

"Yeah, but what if there's a joke that I miss? Unfortunately, Connie doesn't exactly do recaps." Eren replied, unlocking his phone.

Hey, you wanna come over?

"What about Marco? I would assume Armin wouldn't even bother reading it." The phone buzzed again.

Just realizing how weird (and kinda gay) that sounded, haha. Or you know, just hang out somewhere like the other weekend. 

Instead of replying to Mikasa, Eren raised an eyebrow at his phone.

"Earth to Eren?"

"What?" Eren asked, looking back up at his sister. "Sorry, what did you say?"

"Nothing, doesn't matter." Mikasa waved her hand dismissively, standing to put her bowel in the sink. Under usual circumstances, Eren would stop her and make her repeat what she said. But these weren't usual circumstances. Levi had texted him asking him out. 

It wasn't even the fact that Levi had asked to hang out with Eren, they mutually agreed that they were friends now, but it was more so the fact that Levi had invited Eren over to his house. Levi never really talked about his family or his background or talked about anything to do with his actual house. Then again, when does that shit actually come up in conversation?

Eventually, Eren got over his shock and sent back a reply.

Haha, it doesn't come off as weird (maybe a little gay ha). Uh yeah, sure?? You really have a thing for last minute hanging out shit, don't you?

Blame Hanji, she does it all the time so I guess it'd just a habit of mine now.

oh yes, always blame Hanji. Well, I guess I'm gonna need your address?

Can I just send you my location or some shit? It's easier

That typing out your freaking address? What are you, 12?

Quite the opposite Eren, I'm getting too old for this crap. So is it all goods or not?

Yeah yeah, whatever. just send it. 

After a moment of inspecting and investigating Levi's whereabouts, Eren replied to Levi before opening up the bus timetable. 

Man, you live like, in the strangest place? I've never even heard of it. 

Get that a lot. You'll find it, hard to miss. Brick, 1 story, a driveway that looks like it was made for an actual fucking toy car. 

Quite the place you got there. Alright, see you in like, half an hour maybe? 

Eren never got a reply. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eren stood in front of the house, glancing at his phone every few seconds. It was definitely a brick house, rather short driveway. Then again, there were multiple brick houses with short driveways on this obscure street. 

Eren took a deep breath and continued walking up to the front door. There were all sorts of horrors that could come from knocking on the door. The first being, he had a fear of getting the wrong house. It'd happened before, twice actually. The first time had been Connie's house and a drunk woman opened the door, and the last time was when he was dropping off Jean's homework. Thankfully it was an old woman who answered and was able to direct Eren to the right house. Although it had only happened once, Eren had definitely developed an irrational fear of knocking on stranger's houses. 

The second thing was, even if it was Levi's house, he'd still have to face the challenges of that. He'd meet Levi's family- who, Eren didn't even know how many it contained, he'd have to somehow contain a conversation for a couple hours and just, in general, he didn't know what to expect. Levi's house was the unknown, like a bottle in chemistry with an unknown substance.

And just like in chemistry, Eren was not good with unknown substances. 

Eren searched for a doorbell, didn't find one, and so resorted to knocking as loudly as he could. He'd texted Levi a few minutes beforehand saying that he had gotten off the bus, not a reply had not yet reached his phone. He wondered if it ever would. A shadow of a figure could be seen from behind the door, and Eren sucked in his breath as the door swung open. 

Then he let it out and felt his heart deflate, his anxiety peak, and his worry exploded.

And behind the door stood not Levi, but rather a short red-headed girl. Her eyes almost reflected Eren's eyes, he thought shockingly, and she couldn't have been any older than fifteen. The both of them said nothing for a moment, merely looking at each other as they took in the situation. Eren took a deep mental breath. It could be his sister or a sister's friend. She looks nothing like Levi though, and if she's a friend why did she open the door? Or something. Or this a complete stranger who has no idea who I am. Either way, this sucks. Eren decided to break the awkward silence. 

"Uh, hi... Is this Levi's-"

"You must be Levi's friend, Eren!" Suddenly the girl was beaming, and Eren felt himself relax at the mention of Levi's name.

"Yeah, that's right. He home, or is he pranking me?" She giggled. 

"No, he's home. He's in his room, doing god knows what." She stuck out her hand. "I'm Isabel, Levi's little sister. Well, adopted sister. Levi says you have an adopted sister too."

"Did he just? Well, he's not wrong. I would introduce myself but I suppose you already know who I am." Eren smiled, finding himself calming down rather quickly. 

"Yup! And-"

"Isabel, stop torturing the brat." Levi walked up casually behind Isabel, leaning against the wall inside the house. He shot Eren an apologetic smile. "Hi Eren." Eren smiled back.

"Hi Levi." Isabel spun on her heel and looked at Levi for a moment. The two siblings stared at each other for a while, Levi having a blank expression on his face as he peered down at her. Eren shifted his weight, not sure what was going on. Is this what it's like for the group when Mikasa and I have silent conversations? 

The two eventually snapped out of whatever trance they were captured in, and Isabel turned her attention back to Eren. 

"If he's mean to you," She whispered, "Come to my room and we can play some video games."

"Come on you, off you go" Levi rolled his eyes, pushing Isabel's shoulder slightly. She laughed and bounded off, disappearing from sight. Levi made eye contact with Eren once again, and Eren smiled.

"She's quite energetic isn't she?"

"You should see her once she's gotten into a mood and had proper sleep, she's like a fucking maniac machine. Come in" Levi pushed off from the wall, gesturing for Eren to step in the doorway.

"Shoes on or off?"

"Doesn't really matter, I would recommend off though." Eren took the advice, slipping them off and placing them just inside the door. He followed Levi as the shorter teen led the way.

"You can't meet mum sorry, she's at work at the moment. Maybe next time." Eren smiled, hoping with all his heart that there would be a next time. 

"So is it just you Isabel and your mum then?"

"Nah, there's Farlan. Brother. He's out doing something, I think to get new headphones. Izzy was supposed to go with him but she wanted to meet you, and she's a stubborn ass." Eren looked around the room as Levi spoke, taking in each and every detail.

There weren't any photos, and instead of painting decorated the walls. The walls were layered with old wallpaper, flowers of some sort. They passed through the living room, where there was a couch a couple sofas. He thought he glimpsed a T.V, but couldn't be sure. They also passed the kitchen, which looked nice enough. Then they reached the hallway, splitting off into four different rooms. Levi paused, pointing the one down the end.

"That's the bathroom if you need it." He pointed to the other two rooms on the right. "That's mum's room and Isabel and Farlan share a room. And this one," Levi said, opening the door of the room on the left, the only door on the left, "Is my room." They walked into Levi's room, and Eren whistled comically. 

It wasn't anything special, but you could tell it was Levi's room. The wallpaper was a dark blue paint, almost Navy, and the carpet looks like the life had been vacuumed out of it. Posters decorated the walls, a couple bands Eren recognised but most he'd never heard of before. There were a couple photos, family ones and ones with friends. He had a wall planner with sticky notes all over it, and a small desk sat in the corner. 

What impressed, or even puzzled Eren, was the fact that it was so clean. The desk was all neatly set up, the floor was clear, the bookshelf Eren had only just noticed was organised, and even the bed was in pristine condition.

"You really like to keep it clean huh?"

"Wouldn't be able to find anything if it wasn't" Levi shrugged, falling back onto his bed. Eren frowned as he inspected the bed.

"Wait, why do you have a double bed? Do you like share it with Isabel and... Far.."

"Farlan, yes I know, odd name."

"No odd, just different. Anyway, do you share it with your siblings sometimes?"

"Nah, I just like having my space. besides, sometimes the at likes to join me and those two are a nightmare to share a bed with. Trust me, unfortunate personal experience." Eren laughed. Levi patted the seat next to him. "You gonna sit down or stand like a dick for the next four hours?"

"What, you're gonna keep me prisoner here for four hours?" Eren joked, seating himself.

"You can stay however long you want." Levi shrugged. "Or, if Izzy scared you off, you can leave right."

"I spent two bucks getting all the way here, I'd need to be pretty scared off to go home now." Eren snorted, looking around the room.

"Nice room. It's very... you."

"Not sure how to take that so, thanks?"

"Your welcome." Eren smiled. Levi rolled his eyes in return.

"So, what do you want to do?" He asked.

"I don't know, you're the one who invited me here. Use some of your spontaneous ideas of doing things."

"A power I should not use lightly, Eren." Levi mockingly warned. 

"So how long have you lived here?" Eren asked curiously, leaning closer to Levi.

"I don't know, eight years maybe?"

"Does it suck being so far away from civilization?"

"Jesus Christ Eren it's not that far away. And what is this an interrogation?" Eren smiled. 

"Well, if we're not actually going to do anything we mas-well talk."

"Why don't we talk about you instead," Levi asked, searching Eren's face for something. He had leaned over slightly too.

"Because we always talk about me at school, it's your turn." Levi looked at Eren for a moment before sitting back up straight, letting his smile slide off his face. 

"Okay. But when we get back to school, we talk about you." Eren's smile only widened. 

And so the interrogation began.


	13. Supermarket Showdown

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren's birthday is coming up and everyone seems to be even more excited than him- and after Eren gets another terrible craving he and Levi take a trip to the supermarket. However, all goes south with an unfortunate figure is there blocking their way. They have to somehow make their way to it in this supermarket showdown.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sick and I have a headache so you better believe I'm writing gay fan fiction instead of sleeping. I'm really bad with time skip things and I'm just realising how much I'm using them so?? Sorry?? :)
> 
> I also just wanna say quickly thank you for all the hits and kudos and comments and all that jazz, it honestly warms my heart so much and it's one of my favourite things and really makes my day. 
> 
> Anyways, enjoy! This was a lot of fun to write~

"You really need to get your license Eren, I'm not driving you around forever," Mikasa said, chucking her bag into the back seat.

"Yeah yeah, I know. Everyone keeps saying that." Eren mumbled, also chucking his bag into the car.

"That's because you should have it by now! Honestly Eren, you're turning 17 and you don't even have your learners."

"Tell me something I don't know"

"Okay... We're going to Trost for your birthday"

"WHAT?"

"Just kidding" 

"Fuck you, you got my hopes up"

"Next time you think about swearing at me, just remember I can drive away without your sorry ass in the seat"

"Sorry," Eren mumbled, shutting the door as he scrambled into his seat.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"No, no how about a pool party?"

"Connie it's on a Friday afternoon and night, that's a terrible idea. Plus, no pools would be open and unless someone suddenly has a pool I don't think there's an option to even go to a pool." Armin smiled, shaking his head.

"Uh, no, I thought we agreed on a weekend thing."

"I thought that we were just discussing both options and then finalizing."

"Okay then, say it was Friday night, how about we all go to a theme park, in Trost say?"

"And who'll drive us?"

"Not to mention we're all poor as heck" Eren commented, taking a sip from his bottle. 

"Alright then, almost birthday boy. What do you want to do for your special night?"

"It's hardly special," Eren snorted. "It's just 17. How about we do nothing and leave it for next year?" Armin and Connie looked at Eren, synchronized as they lay their hands over their hearts mockingly.

"Why, Eren! How terrible that is of you to say! Look, I say some loud music, some cool chicks and we just go all out."

"Or, for a nice chill Friday night we could just play a bunch of board games or camp in someone's backyard or something"

"You don't even like nature Armin" The blonde boy shrugged.

"It's not about me."

"Seriously guys, I don't even really want a party. What the best birthday present would be is an early night's rest without getting spammed at 12 in the morning with memes or some stupid happy birthday shit. Like I said, it's just 17." Eren looked off absentmindedly out the window, his friends fading from his mind. He wasn't against parties per say, he liked a good birthday celebration. But sleep was hard to come by, and on the night where you could have anything you wanted it was rather tempting to ask for that one pure thing- sleep. 

"Okay okay, how about we just all sit in silence reading books with music playing in the background"

"We could play some drama games?"

"Didn't you hear Eren, he doesn't want anything extra."

"That's not extra, you should see some of the other stuff I've got planned." Connie flashed his two friends a wicked grin, already pulling out his phone. Eren rolled his eyes, plugging in his headphones. He leaned against his seat, waiting for the damned bell to ring so he could finally get this day over and done with.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eren and Levi walked along the path, badges shining in their hands. Eren tossed his in the air, narrowly catching it in his palm.

"You know, I feel like you've gifted me some sort of power where the phrase 'with great power comes great responsibility" really applies to it," Eren said, tossing it again.

"What do you mean?" Levi glanced over, frowning as Eren almost dropped it again. "Don't scratch it, Armin might scratch your eyes out." Eren laughed, tucking the badge into his pocket. 

"Nah, I don't think he will. He loves me too much to do that. You know, the whole badge thing. We can leave school whenever and it' completely fine."

"Unless we're in class."

"Unless we're in class." Eren nodded. "But really, there aren't any teachers most of the time because they're all, you know, teaching."

"Right. Guess so. What are we going for anyway? I wanted to be studying right now for my internal next period." Levi grumbled, looking at the time on his phone.

"Chill, I just wanna grab some twisties. I saw a picture of them in my maths class and I can't quite explain what came over me, maybe God spoke to me, and suddenly I just had to have those twisties!" 

"Why do I even ask these things?" Levi said, rolling his eyes. 

"Because you love my voice" Eren teased, bumping his shoulder into Levi's. Or rather, Eren almost bowled Levi over due to his miscalculation of their heights and weights. Levi grumbled again, pushing back against Eren.

"Why did you even drag me along?"

"Because you're like my breakout buddy"

"Never fucking say 'breakout buddy' ever again for as long as I live."

"Aw, why? Is it because it makes you feel treasured?" Eren leaned closer to Levi who shrugged him off.

"Fuck off." Eren laughed, doing just that. 

The two walked in silence, looking up at the sky and at the cars driving past. It had been a little while since the two had been able to get out of school, as Hanji and Armin had both been using their badges and just generally because the two had been too busy. One Hanji offered to go with Eren, but feeling as if he and Levi had a special sort of bonding time in these walks he declined her. What was waiting just a couple more days to go over? 

"Hey, are you free this weekend?" Levi asked, breaking Eren out of his daze. He raised an eyebrow, looking down at Levi. "Izzy keeps bugging me about wanting to see you again, and she actually wants to talk to you. It's getting really annoying, and I guess you're okay to be around." Levi joked, smiling up at Eren. Eren laughed in turn, nodding.

"Yeah, I'm free. Guess it runs in the family, huh?" But then Eren remembered the conversations that took place earlier that day in tutor. 

"Oh shit, sorry, I'm not free. Well, I don't know whether I am or not is more accurate. It's my birthday on Friday and I think Armin and Connie were planning to do something against my very clear opinion that sleep is just as good as any party but you know, since when did I know anything." Eren laughed.

"From the bags under your eyes, I didn't think you were the sleeping kind of guy. What were they planning to do?"

"Funny. I actually have no idea, they were arguing about it last I heard. You know, if anything does end up happening, you're welcome to come. It'd just be the people who you know, and Hanji and Erwin could come if they wanted as well." 

"Nah, it's fine. I've never been one for parties, I find them kind of stupid. Thanks, though." Levi waved him off. Eren nodded, feeling a pit fall in his stomach. He and Levi weren't the closest, but he thought they might have been close enough for Levi to attend. He was hoping that Levi might have said yes. 

"All goods. If nothing ends up happened though, I'm down to hang out." Eren offered, and it was Levis turn to nod. The two entered the supermarket finally, Eren already walking towards the aisle holding the food he sought. Eren was so eager that he didn't notice when Levi had stopped walking beside him.

"Levi-"

"Shh, quick, here" Levi dashed into the closest aisle, and Eren joined him soon after.

"What are you-"

"Shut up and open your eyes," Levi said, pointing in the direction that they were heading in. Eren did so, and covered his mouth as it formed a solid 'o' when he finally saw.

There was a teacher there. No big deal, they had their badges. Until Eren saw that it was no ordinary teacher.

It was Mr Chapman.

The very teacher in charge of the SCAT team. 

"Shit!" Eren hissed, turning back to Levi quickly. "Shit! Why does this shit always happen to us?!"

"Can you talk any louder?"

"I'm not even talking. What the fuck are we gonna do?" Levi peeked around the corner, swore under his breath, and grabbed Eren's hand. They raced down the aisle as fast as they could without looking like the two boys who had sneaked out of class out of deception like they were. Eren did his best to keep up with Levi. What Eren lacked his speed he made up for with the fact that Levi has short legs while Eren's were taller. They eventually stopped looking at the milk. Eren shivered as the cold hit him.

"Why here of all places?"

"Because if we went any other way we would have run into Mr, idiot."

"Well, where is he now?" As if on cue, they heard his voice behind him, not too far away.

"Quick" Levi ran again, not bothering to grab Ere's hand this time around. 

Around the very aisle, Eren desired to go down, and around the fruit area and the bakery, the two boys ran attempting to get away from the teacher. 

"Fuck, dead-end corner," Eren muttered, looking around. How long would they have to run around the store for, what if he was there for the entirety of lunch? Levi whipped his head around, seemingly with a clear head. His eyes lit up when he saw a card stand, and dragged Eren along with him as he approached it. He pushed Eren into the small gap, and Eren had to suck in as much of his chest as he could in order to be able to fit into the small space. Levi slid in carefully after him, and instantly Eren felt a lot warmer. 

Levi was pressed up right against Eren, their breaths mingling and their hearts beating against each other. It wasn't an ideal space, and Eren had to angle his head upwards just to have some sort of personal space. Eren's heart began to increase his speed, his face heating up slightly. He didn't usually get so close to people, and it wasn't even the fact that it was Levi who was pressed up sp close against him. Although, that didn't help either. Levi's arms were just above Erens head, holding onto the inside of the card stand in order to fit. His other hand was still clutching Eren's, having not let go after he had practically hauled Eren into the small space. Levi was filled with indifference, however, as he looked through the small gap available. If anything, it was as if Levi was leaning further into Eren. 

"Eren would you please shut your heart up, it feels freaky against my chest" Levi mumbled, stealing a glance at Eren. Eren blushed more, the awkwardness of the situation growing. Eren stammered before giving up on trying to come up with a comeback. It was timeless, in the little space, Eren thought. He didn't know how long they stood there, how long Levi looked out the little gap for Mr Chapman to finally pass.

"Alright, I think he's gone," Levi said and slipped out of the car rack space. ren hurridly followed his friend, having no desire whatsoever to stay in the cramped space. 

"Thank god for that," Eren said, looking around for himself to confirm the news. 

"Now let's go get your twisties" Levi laughed, already heading to the aisle. Eren smiled and followed him.

After the two had gotten the bag and made sure that Mr Chaman was indeed gone, Eren and Levi made it back to school with no difficulties. 

"Alright then, I guess I'll see you later," Eren said, still smiling at a past joke Levi had made.

"Yeah, see you later." Levi walked off, and then groaned as the bell went.

"Goodluck on your internal!" Eren called, but Levi didn't turn back around. Eren shook his head, making his way over to his English class. I'll open the twisties when I get to class. I guess I'll have to share with Connie. Shit, I should have offered Levi some actually. Does he even like twisties? Eren shook his head in an attempt to stop thinking about Levi.

Eren did eventually make it to his English classroom, and on time. The first thing he saw was Connie frantically scribbling a mass of things on a piece of paper, him being surrounded by countless others. Some were filled with writing, while others were filled with diagram and what looked like to be designed. Eren blinked in amazement, thinking that it must have been for their English project. As Eren got closer however and Connie noticed him, his friend bundled up all of the papers and shoved them hurriedly into his bag. Eren raised an eyebrow in question, sitting in his seat.

"Hey," He said, eyeing up Connie's bag.

"Hey," Connie replied, sending Eren his signature devilish grin. 

"How was lunch, did I miss anything?"

"Nah, Jean was just hogging Marco when I needed his help. You know, as usual. Where were you anyway? You just sort of disappeared?"

"Oh, yeah. I went with Levi to go and get," Eren grabbed the twisties out of his bag and slammed them playfully onto the desk "These bad boys" Connie reached his arm out quickly to open the bag.

"Dude, great idea. It'dd really get the idea flowing for our project." Eren rolled his eyes, popping one into his mouth.

"Yeah, right... Anyway, what've we got?"

"Jackshit," Connie said, mouthful of twisties. He swallowed loudly. "We've got our ideas from last time and that's about it, you know, nothing finalised or anything."

"Well, that sucks."

"Yeah. Hey, we could go to an art gallery and do some bullshit essay debate on a painting or piece of art about how it makes us feel or some shit." Eren leaned back in his chair, looking up thoughtfully.

"Nah, I don't really like art galleries. They're oddly quiet or too loud."

"Okay, how about a theme park?" Eren let his legs of the chair snap back down to the ground.

"Why would we do that?" Connie shrugged.

"I don't know, it's fun and we might find something?" Eren raised his eyebrow again in suspicion. 

"Right..."

"Man, we need another bag of these things," Connie said abruptly, grabbing another handful. Eren laughed, smacking his friend's hand away.

"That's enough for you for now. Come on, we need an idea."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Arghhh I know Mikasa, I know!"

"Then do it!"

"Fine, I fucking will!" Eren said exasperated, throwing his hands up into the air before grabbing his phone. He grumbled as he went onto the driving learning app, and began to read the question. As soon as they had gotten home Mikasa had resumed bugging her brother about getting his license. 

"Why do you even care so much?" He'd asked, to which she replied.

"I love you"

And nothing says I love you more than bugging them.

Carla walked in after about ten minutes, a book in hand.

"Hey Eren sweetie, what would you like to do for your birthday? Any plans?" Eren groaned as he let his phone drop out of his hand, and he rolled over. 

"Why is everyone obsessed with my birthday? You guys are more excited about it than I am!" He exclaimed, letting his hands thud to the ground. Well, except for Levi. He's the only one who doesn't care. Strangely enough, Eren's stomach did a slight dive at the thought. He sort of wished Levi had cared, even just shown a little interest in the fact that it was his birthday.

Sort of. 

"Oh, well, your birthday is a special thing." Eren's head rolled back, a blank expression on his face. His mother only laughed.

"Oh alright, alright. Fine, you can just pick out dinner then, what would you like?" Eren thought for a moment before finally coming up with a place.

"What about the Mexican place in town? We haven't been in a while." Carla nodded thoughtfully when Grisha walked in, saying his good afternoon to everyone as he usually did when he got home. He tipped his head to read what was on Eren's phone screen and smiled when he saw what app it was open on. Then he saw Eren's expression and the simple smile turned into a full-blown laugh. He gestured to Mikasa.

"Older sister bossing you around?"

"You bet" Eren grumbled, poking his tongue out at Mikasa which he gladly returned. Grisha leaned down to kiss Carla quickly.

"So, have you chosen dinner for Friday Eren?" His father asked, walking back into the kitchen Carla replied for him and Grisha expressed his agreement. 

"Well, I'm off to bed," Eren said, standing. "I've had a long day."

"Okay sweetie" Carla kissed his forehead, bidding him goodnight. After Eren had said goodnight to everyone he settled into bed, letting his reams and the endless void take over his consciousness.


	14. Lots of time skips, sorry-

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the day before Eren's birthday, Levi gets to know Eren a bit more, Eren finds out something about Levi, Jean ignores Eren and makes love eyes at Marco, Eren fixes a wrong rumour and Levi and Hanji come to Eren's tutor class, but wait, get it,  
> There's only one seat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not the best written (that's some bad English right there but it's like 1 am so oh well) but I mean I don't hate it so that's something. Also sorry, I haven't been editing-I edit as I go and it hurts when I go back to edit my writing so if there are any mistakes sorry- Anyways, hope you enjoy!

Eren's tutor class had somehow become Levi's second tutor, Eren thought. As it had been happening quite often, Levi was sitting in Eren's tutor as the two friends scrolled through on their phones. The brunette had sometimes wondered about Levi's tutor, where it was who the teacher was and who was in it, however, he'd never bothered to, or felt the need to, ask Levi about it. 

"Hey, Eren?" Levi said, not looking up from his phone or pausing his scrolling.

"Yeah?"

"What type of music do you listen to?"

"Why?" Eren looked up at Levi, puzzled, as he shrugged.

"I dunno, just wondering. It's just nothing we've ever really talked about."

"True. Umm... I guess some pop? Most of its kinda shit though. I like indie pop though. And electronica. Alternative rock is pretty good. What about you?"

"Same as you surprisingly. I like garage rock too."

"Really? I thought you'd be into screamo or something" Eren snorted, going back to his phone. Levi punched Eren's shoulder lightly, causing the taller male to laugh.

"Okay then, asshole, what shows do you watch?"

What's with the interrogation man?"

"Just answer the question before I get my lamp out."

"Okay okay, um I don't know, Wall Forst, Titan Fall, shit like that. Ocean Dreamers too."

"I have never heard any of those before"

"What? Do you live under a bloody rock or something? When you come over to mine we are binging all of those."

"Uh, no. They don't really sound like the type of shows I'd watch"

"Bullshit, everyone loves Titan Fall. I even got Armin obsessed with it!" Eren chuckled to himself, reminiscing on the weekend when Eren could barely keep his eyes open when Armin demanded they binge the whole six seasons. Eren didn't think Armin had it in him, but sure enough, they finished it. 

"Do you like have any merch for it? Or do you collect anything?"

"I'm too poor to buy anything. I used to collect lolly wrappings from my grandparents, but then dad found them after Mikasa tipped him off and I never saw them again."

"That's it?" Although Eren couldn't see, Levi was smiling faintly. 

"I have an embarrassing amount of pens if that counts?"

"How many?"

"A lot, and I'm gonna leave it at that."

"Alright, Mr mysterious. Well, when I come over you can show me."

"Sounds good to me. Speaking of which, do you-" The ear-splitting bell cut off Eren midsentence, causing them to groan out love.

"Last question," Levi said, leaning forward with a smirk. "How do you feel about the school bells?" Eren smiled pleasantly before pulling the finger at Levi, and stood. 

"Very expressive." Levi chuckled, also standing. Eren walked out of the class, not bothering to wait for Levi. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eren looked at the food in Levi's hand, disgust having taken over his face.

"I can't believe you're gonna eat that, it actually looks like radioactive, poison shit."

"Eren, it's fucking peppermint. Peppermint! A peppermint slice is good for the soul" Levi glared up at Eren, taking a bite.

"Whatever, doesn't stop the fact it looks like shit."

"Have you ever even tried it?"

"Well, no," Eren mumbled, not meeting Levi's eyes. "Why would I? I just told you it looks like-"

"Yeah, I get that, but you eat dead fucking animals which don't look particularly pleasant before it's cooked. Why the hell are you saying you don't like it when you've never tried it before?" Levi said incredulously, taking another bite. 

"Look, I just know when I see it, okay?"

"Whatever," Levi said, turning back around to look straight ahead. Soon enough, the area where Hanji, Erwin and Armin were sitting came into view. Levi sat himself down on a patch of grass, and Eren being too awkward to look for another spot took the seat next to him. 

"You guys have a nice trip?" Erwin asked, looking between the two.

"Yeah, it was good aside from the fact that Jean was in front of us taking for fucking ever." Eren leaned back, groaning as he shook his shirt slightly.

"You okay?" Armin asked.

"Yeah, it's just so freaking hot-" Out of nowhere, a hand grasped Eren by the shoulder and he was leaning back slightly to the side. His eyes widened when a crumbly substance was shoved between his lips, forcing Eren to open them and taste the unknown substance. Eren finally managed to look at the hand and face behind the act, and glared when it saw it was, in fact, Levi and his slice of death. Eren gagged, trying his best to push him and the food away.

"Eat it, Eren."

"Fjubadg" Opposite the two, Armin Hanji and Erwin were all losing it, laughs escaping their mouths endlessly. 

"What was that?" Eren managed to pull away for long enough to say it more clearly.

"Fuck off"

"Come on, one way or another you're eating it." Eren, believing in Levi's threat wholeheartedly took a bite of the peppermint slice, still glaring. He swallowed, and was pleasantly surprised when it didn't taste that bad. When it was clear Eren wasn't going to spit it back out, Levi leaned back again, smirking as he took another bite.

"Asshole, I can't you just fucking betrayed me!"

"Oh don't be dramatic, Eren. See, it wasn't that bad was it?" Levi laughed.

Eren humiliated as his friends all continued to laugh, turned away grumbling to himself. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"This internal really sucks," Eren growled, kicking a stone. He and Marco were on their way to the library to do some research for their biology internal, one the neither of them were too keen on. 

"It's not that bad," Marco said cheerfully, trying to keep their moods up. Eren didn't bother replying, just kept looking forward as every step took him towards his very own personal hell. 

It wasn't that Biology was a hard subject, or even that it was a shit subject in terms of entertainment and interest. Eren hadn't wanted to take it, but he wasn't able to think of another subject and he's been decent at it the previous year. Plus, his father worked in that field so if he ever needed help his dad was always right there.

The two walked into the library, a wave of coolness washing over the two. Eren breathed in the cool air, thanking whoever invented air conditioning. 

"Damn, all the computers are taken." Marco sighed and began looking over to the laptop trolley. "There's a couple laptop left though, think those are good?" Eren didn't hear Marco talking, as he was busy searching the room for a place the two could sit. All the seats and tables were taken, as they usually were if you weren't quick enough. Eren began looking into the corners of the library, hoping that he and Marco wouldn't have to sit on the floor. Eren was very surprised however when he saw something unusual in the far left-hand corner of the library. Or rather, he was very surprised when he saw who was unusually there. 

Levi was sitting there, on a seat no less, just reading a book. No one was with him as far as Eren could see, and he didn't have a laptop. What is he doing in here? Shouldn't he be in English? Eren looked around the library to see if there were any other year 12's, but aside from his own biology class, Eren couldn't see any other familiar navy blue shorts. 

"Eren?" Marco tapped Eren on the shoulder, bring Eren back to the present.

"Oh, um, pardon?"

"Are the laptops okay? There's a couple left."

"Oh right, yeah, sorry. That's all goods. I was just thinking, there's this book Hanji told me about so I'm just gonna go look at that quickly."

"So you d want one?"

"Yup, just grab one and I'll be there in a second." Eren didn't wait for Marco's reply, and began to make his way over to Levi. He didn't know why he was so curious about why Levi wasn't with the rest of his class, it could have bee for so many reasons. Maybe the class was doing something else, maybe they were reading a book and their teacher let them read anywhere in the school. Or, maybe he didn't have English at all. 

When Eren reached Levi's corner, he took a seat in the chair that was fortunately free. Levi looked up with a slightly ticked off expression, and then raised his eyebrow when he saw that it was Eren who had plunked himself in front of him. 

"Hey," Eren said, smiling.

"Hey," Levi replied. The two looked at each other, Erne giving Levi a knowing smile. Eren finally broke the silence after a moment.

"What are you doing?" Levi closed his book, clearly not about to bother with some bullshit excuse.

"We're doing a practice essay and I don't want to do it, so I considered and came to the conclusion that reading in the quite of the library was a better use of my time." Eren tutted, shaking his head. 

"I didn't think you'd be the type to wag."

"Well, likewise Eren, why aren't you in class?" Levi leaned forward in his seat.

"Marco and I are doing research for our bio internal and Mr said we could use the library."

"Wow, I didn't think you'd be the science type," he mocked, but the look on his face told Eren that he wasn't completely joking. 

"I don't know, it's the easiest one for me. Although I suppose chemistry's not that bad if I passed it last year." He shrugged.

"Wow," Levi leaned back. "Two sciences." He opened his book back up and began to read again. "Physics is my favourite." Eren's mouth dropped as soon as the last sentence came out of Levi's mouth.

"Wait- wait what?" Physics was, as Eren liked to describe it, a bitch and a super hard subject that you'd have to be crazy to take. That was one of the reasons he thought Mikasa was a goner when she announced she was taking physics. "You take physics?" Levi didn't reply, he just merely gestured to his book. Eren shook his head, saying a small goodbye and walking back to go and find Marco. When the freckled boy saw Eren he smiled, handing over a laptop.

"Find the book?" Eren sat down.

"Yup."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"That was a surprisingly good, productive period" Eren said, swinging his arms.

"Eren, sorry to burst your bubble but you looked at funny bird videos for a solid fifteen minutes" Marco smiled, rolling his eyes softly. Eren also cracked a smile.

"Like I said, productive." Eren looked back to the corner where Levi had been sitting, only to find that Levi had left sometime during the period. Guess he's had enough of me for one day. Eren joked to himself, letting Levi slip from his mind. 

Eren and Marco made their way up the seemingly endless staircase, both groaning slightly when they finally reached the top.

"I swear whoever decided adding in all these stairs would be a good idea seriously had some problems in the decision-making field." Eren ground out, swinging open the door that lead to their tutor class.

"Amen to that" Marco huffed, and the two made their way over to where their friends were all sitting, chatting the day away. The two were greeted as usual, and Eren closed his eyes as conversations passed between everyone. Eren eventually did open his eyes and nudged Armin gently gaining the blonde boy's attention.

"Hey, you didn't tell me Levi took physics. Is he in your class?"

"Never really came up I guess. I would have thought Levi'd told you. Yeah, we're in the same class. Hanji's in the other one though, and I'm not completely sure whether that's a blessing or a curse." Armin shrugged. Suddenly the door swung open loudly behind them, and Eren without even needing to turn his head instantly knew that it was Jean who had just dropped his bag heavily on the table next to him. 

"Hey guys," Jean said, nodding to Armin and glancing at Marco who smiled brightly at him.

"Hey, my day's been great thanks. Got a really great sleep last night." Eren said smugly, taking note of the fact that Jean had completely ignored him. 

"Shut up, asshole"

"I didn't even say anything" Eren held up his hands, laughing. "I want just telling you how my day was, is that so bad?" Armin elbowed Eren mouthing at him to not be an ass, but Jean had already moved on and was talking excitedly to Marco. He was leaning slightly closer to the freckled boy, and from Eren's angle, it almost looked as if Jean was leaning on Marco.

"So I was thinking, for our movie marathon Monday we could..." Eren stopped listening after 'I was thinking' and turned to share a glance with Armin. Both of the boys didn't have a problem with any other sexualities or genders, in fact, it didn't bother them at all. What did bother them, however, as the fact that they couldn't figure out where Jean and Marco stood in terms of their relationship. They acted like friends one time, but then the next day they're being all super close and talking about their stupid movie marathon shit. Then, later that day, Jean would post an oddly heterosexual comment on Mikasa's post showing off her new haircut or clothing. It was all very confusing. Not wanting to hear Jean and Marco go on about whatever it was they were going on about, ren and Armin silently agreed to go and sit by Thomas a few tables away. 

"Hey," Thomas said when he noticed them, his face lighting up. 

"Hey, why are you looking so happy to see us?"

"I have some wack news to tell you"

"Why does everyone keep saying wack, what does it even mean-"

"So, you know Annie?"

"Annie...?"

"Annie Leonhart"

"Oh, yeah, girl with the scary face."

"Yeah, well apparently she's going out with some dude called Reiner, who goes to that new Trost school, super sporty, but then she's also going out with some chick called Sasha, who apparently has an obsession with potatoes so I don't know what that says about Annie's preferences? It's so weird." Eren began laughing, quietly at first before it escalated into full-out belts. 

"Okay, Thomas, sorry to break this to you but whoever made that shit up had to have been high. Sasha's straight. Like, hella straight. And I think she and Connie might be having something going on but I'm just confused whether it's legit flirting or not. So, the first bit is probably bullshit too." Thomas might hang out with them sometimes, but it was never with anyone who wasn't in their tutor class. His eyes widened slightly at this new found information. 

"Holy shit! Hang on." Thomas turned in his seat and began to talk to the people next to him, no doubt fixing the rumour. Eren rolled his eyes, and focused his attention on Armin. 

"So, how'd your chem internal go? Got excellence?"

"Well, hopefully. It was pretty much just what we did in the practices so I think I did everything right. I wish we'd gotten the formula though, some people liked really confused and stressed.

"Well, they should have studied as much as you do they knew them off by heart."

"Yeah, but-"

"Don't waste your energy worrying about other people Armin, it'll just make you sad and stressed." Eren leaned back, putting his hands behind his head. 

"I guess so. But yeah, hopefully, it was an excellence." 

"You know that-" The door opened again, cutting off Eren's sentence.

"WHAT'S UP FUCKERS!" Connie yelled, bursting through the door. Eren smiled at him over the top entrance, but it smiles only broadened when he saw Hanji and Levi also walk through the door with him. 

"What are you guys doing here?" Eren asked, still unable to wipe the smile from his face.

"Just felt like paying you a visit." Hanji chirped, sitting practically on Armin's lap. The boy blushed bright red. 

"Uh, Hanji-"

"OH, right. Sorry, Armin." She hopped off his lap, sitting on a seat for herself. Eren smiled, happy that Hanji was unable to understand Armin's hesitance with such close contact even if she couldn't relate to him about it. Both Levi and Eren looked around to find a chair for him, as Connie had taken the last remaining one, but the only chairs that had no one in them were the chairs that were fortunately guarded by Jean and Marco's looks that they were giving one another. Levi and Eren's eyes met, and they came to a mutual agreement.

"Ah well, what must be done must be done," Eren said, scooting over so he only took up half of the seat.

"I'm glad you're considerate enough to share your home with me," Levi said slyly, taking up just less than half the seat. Eren scooted a bit closer, as he was already hanging off the edge as it was.

"My pleasure." The two tried to readjust so that they were both comfortable but failed miserably.

"I'm slipping off" Levi huffed. Eren laughed in return.

"Here, how about-" Eren hooked his arm around Levi's waist, securing the smaller boy up against his side. "This." Eren smiled at Levi triumphantly. Levi also snaked an arm around Eren's shoulder, further securing their position. 

"Perfect."

"You guys look like you're getting ready for a family photo." Armin chuckled, grabbing out a book to probably do nothing more than study.

"If I had to be related to Eren, I think I would actually have to think of ways to get out of that family."

"Hey!" Eren exclaimed, jokingly half-pushing Levi off the seat. 

"Watch your mouth."

"Or what?"

"I'll drop you, obviously." Eren rolled his eyes, sitting up straight once again. Or rather, as straight as he could with Levi pressed up against his side while half dangling off the edge of a seat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As ya'll know I live in NZ and it's really funny because I set the publication date to the 2nd but AO3's like 'Nope, can't be published in the future!' hmm okay then, guess I'll just publish it IN THE PAST THEN. Not important, just thought that was funny :)


	15. Eren's ball of a birthday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Eren's birthday, and what he thinks is going to be an ordinary sleepover with the original trio turns out to be a bit more than that. 
> 
>  
> 
> I have mixed feelings about this chapter :')

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Should I have an update schedule? Do you guys want that or are spontaneous updates keeping you on your toes? I feel like I could get chapters out quicker with a deadline but then again I'm tired constantly so *insert that emoji thing with the arms going up and the :/ face*. I've got benchmarks/mock exams for the next two weeks so it'd have to start after those but yeah pls let me know what you think. Or don't. Whatever floats your boat.
> 
> Also, ahhhhHHHHHHH RR GOT OVER 1000 HITS! My heart is full, thank you all so much!!
> 
> Anyways, hope you enjoy this chapter at least a little bit :)

"Ugggghhhhhhh" Eren groaned, rolling himself over to bury his face further into the pillow. There were no birds chirping, nor was there sunlight streaming through the gap in his curtains. Instead, it was freezing outside of the warm covers, it was very clearly still pitch black outside and the only sound heard was the noise outside his door. 

"Eren?" His mother called, rapping on the door again. 

"Yeah?" Carla opened the door slightly, with a massive smile on her face.

"Happy birthday sweetie!"

"Ughhh." Eren groaned again, this time seating himself up. "That must be why I feel like shit," he muttered under his breath. "I'm a year closer to death."

"Dad and Mikasa are both downstairs, you get to open one from Mikasa and one from us this morning and you can open the rest after school." She walked across the room to Eren, dodging the clothes as she leaned over to hug him.

"Thank mum, I'll be down there in a minute."

"I love you, sweetie." Carla smiled, retreating from the room and closing the door behind her. Eren let out a groan, pulling back his curtains and instantly feelings the warmth leave his arms. He shivered, getting out of bed and making his way downstairs.

His slightly bad mood instantly cleared up as he saw his family sitting around the table, smiling up at him. He skipped down the stairs, laughing when Mikasa tackled him in a hug.

"Happy birthday Eren."

"Thanks, Mikasa." His dad also embraced him, Carla soon joining in. Mikasa was the first to wriggle herself free, smiling brightly.

"Alright, present time. I don't really wanna be late for school." Eren nodded, and his parents led him to where his presents were waiting on the table. Eren picked up the smallest one and looked to see that Mikasa's name was written on the top neatly.

"Oh?"

"It's kind of a present for both of us, I guess." Mikasa grinned sheepishly, gesturing for him to hurry up and open it. Eren tore open the wrapping and laughed when he saw what it was.

It was the disk for the second Mario Galaxy game, as they'd almost completed the first one. 

"It's perfect." He leaned over to hug his sister. "Thank you." Next, he opened the present from his parents, which was a pie maker.

"Well, you're always complaining about what to have for dinner so we thought we'd give you something practical" His mother teased, embracing her son and husband. 

"And," Mikasa cut in, "You can make us breakfast now!"

Eren swatted her on the head. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eren dragged one foot after another up the stairs, panting gently as he finally made it to the top. Even on his birthday, whatever force out there was condemning him to the torturous stairs of A block. Still half doubled over, Eren opened the door to his tutor class. There was a pause before the room erupted into a wave of happy birthdays from his classmates, and it wasn't long after that until Connie rushed up to him and practically bowled him over. 

"Careful Connie, he's not getting any younger." Armin teased, poking Eren's shoulder.

"Yeah, have you seen those knees? Wobbling already!" Marco joined in.

"Haha, very funny guys."

"We do our best." Connie finally detached himself from Eren, a smile plastered on his face. The group of friends moved back to their usual table, noise continuing to fill the room.

"You're like, proper legal now!" Thomas said, wiggling his eyebrows causing Eren to laugh.

"Proper legal? I was legal last year. I'm 17"

"No, like you know how there are all those signs around schools saying '90% of 16-year-olds are virgins', giving off the impression that 16 might be legal but you should wait till you're older. Well, 17 is like the step up where it's more accepted."

"Not that it makes a difference though, no one wants to have sex with Jaeger." Jean snorted, leaning into Marco. Everyone laughed, and even Eren playfully glared before letting out a laugh of his own. Ten minutes later, their tutor teacher walked in with a welcoming happy birthday to Eren and got the class to all sing happy birthday. Then, ten minutes after that, Eren and Connie were headed on their way to English. 

"Alright, so I was thinking that one of us could just have an essay focusing on the good parts, and the other focus on the bad parts."

"Then we stick them together?" 

"Yeah, I mean honestly you got a better idea?"

"Not really," Eren said, sitting own. "I just wanna achieve this internal."

"Same man, same."

"This fucking sucks, English first thing up on my birthday" Eren groaned, picking up his pen. 

"That's only, it can only get better from here," Connie said mischievously, also picking up his pen.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY EREN!" Hanji yelled, launching herself very similarly to how Connie had done that morning.

"Thanks, Hanji" Eren winced under her weight and shifted his eyes to look at Erwin and Levi. They were standing off to the side, smirking and shaking their heads in unison. Hanji finally let go, stepping aside so that Erwin and Levi would be able to say what they wanted to. Erwin came forward first, clasping Eren n the shoulder.

"Happy birthday man. You're, what, 17 now?"

"Yeah, small 17."

"Hey, it's not that small."

"True." Eren finally turned to Levi, smiling faintly. He didn't come any closer, just looked at Eren with a small, soft smile.

"Happy birthday Eren." The brunette smiled back.

"Thanks, Levi."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Thank you guys so much, you really shouldn't have" Eren called down the stairs, moving all of his new possesions from the lounge up to his room.

"Oh hush you, you've been doing so well so this year that you deserve all the good things in the world." Carla smiled, leaning into Grisha.

"Are you kidding me? He always makes me do the dishes!"

"Now now Mikasa, it's his birthday" Grisha smiled, tapping her on the head. "As soon as it hits 12 you can badger him all you want about how he never does anything."

"Like getting his license?"

"Like getting his license."

"You guys can bully me when I can't hear you," Eren said, jumping down the stairs two steps at a time. 

"Alright, alright you two," Carla warned, turning her attention to Eren. "Now, did you still want Mexican for dinner? If so we'll go around 5:30"

"Actually mum, Armin invited Eren and me to stay the night for his birthday and he's got food covered."

"He did?" Eren asked, looking at his sister confused. 

"Yeah, it was a last minute thing."

"Oh, okay. Yeah sure that's fine as long as Eren wants to. We can always postpone it to sometime this weekend or something." Everyone looked to Eren, awaiting his reply. He shrugged his shoulders.

"Sure, I mean, can anyone ever really turn Armin down?"

"Okay, I'll drop you two off. When do you want to go?"

"As soon as possible, probably. Not in a rush though."

"Alright then, well you two go pack. We'll grab dinner while we're out." Grisha said, already walking away to get dressed. Eren hurried into his room, chucking whatever clothes were in front of him into his bag. He also chucked in all the essentials he would need, and within ten minutes he had everything ready to go.

"I can't believe neither you or Armin mentioned this to me at all" Eren muttered, clambering into the car after Mikasa.

"Like I said, it was a last minute thing we'd only really gotten together after school."

"So I guess both Connie and Armin lost in terms of my big birthday thing?"

"Yeah, Connie just gave up and said it might be best if we just had a small original trio hang out thing" Mikasa smiled out the window, clearly keeping something to herself. Maybe Connie was planning something for a later date and was trying to make Eren think he didn't have anything planned afterall. 

It didn't take long to get to Armin's house, as it was pretty much only a ten-fifteen minute drive away. Eren kissed his mother on the cheek before getting out of the car.

"Have fun, don't stay up too late you two!"

"Love you mum" Eren laughed, waving goodbye as the car drove away into the distance and turned away from sight. The two siblings made their way up the driveway, pushing each other slightly as they ran up to the door. Eren rang the doorbell, peering inside to see Armin fast approaching. 

"Hey guys" He smiled, opening the door partially. 

"Hey. So, we gonna have a rave three-person dance party or what?" Eren joked, stepping into the house. He squinted, confused. The lights were dim, dimmer than usual. Armin's grandfather also hadn't come to greet them by the time they'd gotten to the kitchen, which was rather unusual. 

"Hey, Armin-" Eren instantly stopped talking when he saw numerous dark figures all throughout the lounge. The lights then came to life, and as he had heard it many times already earlier that day an abundance of happy birthdays was shouted in his direction. He blinked once, let laughed in shock when he saw all of his friends crowded in Armin's small living room. Connie was at the centre of it all, at the front and throwing a balloon in the air. 

"I should have guessed" Eren laughed, walking forward to be embraced by his surprisers. Behind Connie was Hanji, who grasped him just as tight if not tighter. 

"Hanji? What are you doing here?"

"I heard Armin talking about a party for you in a SCAT meeting, and I mean come on, how could I stay out of it?" She smiled, nudging Connie's shoulder. "These two didn't think you'd have a problem with me being here so I figured I mas-well."

"Yeah no no, it's great that you're here." Eren grinned. 

"And, guess what?"

"What?"

"I even got a certain grumpy-faced someone to come along!" Hanji squealed, moving to reveal a very indeed pissed off looking Levi. Eren smiled nonetheless, even laughing at his friends displeased expression. Warmth spread throughout his body, and the disappointment he'd felt from the earlier day ebbed away as he truly took in that Levi had come. 

"Oh my god, Levi! I thought you hated parties?"

"I do, four eyes dragged me here" He grumbled. "I can't stay long anyway, I've gotten get home at some point to look after Izzy and Farlan." He made eye contact with Eren finally. "But, I suppose it won't be too bad, right? I've got Armin here if it gets too bad."

"True, true." Eren smiled, and was then swept away by Connie and said blonde-coconut.

"My grandad's gone out tonight with an old friend and he won't e back til later.

"Are all these people staying the night?" Eren asked incredulously, looking around."

"God no!" Connie cut in. "As Mikasa said, it'll only be the original trio staying the night here. The rest of us are clearing out. I personally wanna get out English assignment out of the way" Connie laughed, giving Eren one final push onto the couch.

"Since not everyone can stay for long, we're starting with presents," Marco said after appearing out of nowhere, and Eren looked around to see that indeed people were bringing gifts over.

"Oh my god, seriously guys you didn't need to-"

"Well we did," Armin said, seating himself beside Eren. Mikasa took the other seat next to him. 

"Now shut up and take them" Mikasa smiled, already giving Eren the first one. 

"This ones from me" Thomas called from the floor, chucking over a card along with another small wrapped gift. Eren smiled as he took them, and opened them. 

Hey, idiot. I hate doing cards but my mum said that there's nothing more heartfelt than a card so uh, happy birthday mate. Hope you had a good day, hope you didn't think we were all murderers when you walked into the lounge. Enjoy your gifts.

-Thomas. 

"Thanks, Thomas." Eren laughed, tearing into the wrapping. It was a notebook, one that said "I feel like shit, I look like shit life is shit' causing Eren to laugh. To go along with the nope book was a singular black pen. 

"Thanks, man," Eren said, still smiling as he was handed the next one that was from Marco. 

For the next ten minutes, Eren slowly made his way through the presents, almost tearing up with feels and with humour at points, and by the almost end of it Eren's mouth of in pain from all the laughing and smiling. 

"Alright, next up in Levi," Armin said, giving Eren the insanely neatly wrapped present. Eren raised an eyebrow at Levi, opening the gift. 

"Funny, I thought you disliked me so much you wouldn't get me anything."

"I wasn't going to, but with Hanji breathing down my neck it kinda felt like it was a life or death decision" Everyone laughed at that, Hanji also laughing despite Levi's comment being directed at her. Eren continued to chuckle as he saw what Levi had gotten him. 

It was a small plate-bowel, black in colour and had the printing 'Fussy fucker' around the edge on the outside and on the inside.

"Where did you even find this?" Eren cried out, marvelling the quality. Levi just shrugged his shoulders, smiling. 

"I'm good with presents."

"Thanks, Levi." Eren smiled, putting it gently on the table in front of him.

"And finally it's-"

"ME!" Hanji jumped up, delivering her present to Eren for herself. Like Levi's there was no card, just a rather large boxy that was once again, wrapped fairly neatly. Eren opened it, discovering that it was a large jar filled with coloured sticky notes folded neatly.

"What is this?" Eren gasped, looking incredulously at Hanji who was just beaming.

"Each sticky note has something written on it, and each colour has a theme! For example, purple is for song recommendations, pink is for countries and cities you should visit, green are for random facts, yellow for philosophical questions, orange for embarrassing childhood memories from Erwin, and finally blue is for all of the foods Levi likes that you should totally try!" Everyone laughed at Hanji's over the top enthusiasm, and Eren shook his head in laughter as he hugged her. 

"Thanks, Hanji, you won in a landslide!" Eren declared playfully. 

"Alright!" Connie said, standing up and clapping his hands. "Now, we're gonna play a quick game of bus stop before cracking out the food."

"What the heck is bus stop?" Mikasa asked, frowning.

"It's a cool drama game. So, pretty much someone is at the bus stop just chilling, waiting for the bus when someone else comes along. The other person has the wonderful job of annoying the person so much, or making them uncomfortable enough, that the person who was there originally leaves the bus stop. Then, the annoying person gets annoyed by the next person. It's pretty straightforward so if you're still confused you'll catch on quick." There was a ring of the doorbell, and Armin stood up to go answer it. A couple of minutes later, Armin reentered the room with Sasha behind him.

"Hey, Sasha!" Eren bounded up to hug his friend. "Long time no see!"

"Hey Eren, happy birthday! Sorry it's been so long, just been busy."

"Yeah me too." 

"So what are we doing?" Sasha said, handing her present over to Eren. "You can open it later" She whispered, just loud enough for Eren to hear.

"Why?" He whispered back, more or less concerned about what he'd find. 

"I don't think Armin or Marco's precious Christian eyes are ready to see it" She winked. 

"We're playing bus stop," Connie said excitedly, grabbing Sasha's hand affectionately. He gave her a kiss on the cheek, and everyone in the room awed gently. 

"Great, I love bus stop!" Sasha squealed. "Where are we playing?"

"I was thinking just on the couch and the rest of us use the dining room chairs and the floor." Everyone adjusted their seating to get in position for bus stop, Connie and Sasha volunteering as the drama students of their group to demonstrate how to play the game. Connie sat on the couch, pretending to look around for the bus. Eren chuckled, excited to find out how Sasha would choose to scare Connie away from the bus stop. She eventually came and sat on the couch. She scooted closer to Connie, so close that her legs were draped ridiculously over the top on Connie's lap.

"It's a hot day today," She said, taking off her jacket. Connie glanced at her, slowly pushing her exposed legs off his lap. 

"Yeah, I guess it is."

"Why're you wearing a jacket then? She drawled, slimily letting herself fall on him.

"Because I want to"

"Well I think you don't need it," Sasha said, already sliding it off Connie's shoulders. He pushed her away, straightening his clothes.

"Please don't." Sasha then stood up, seemingly to leave. But then she sat on his lap.

"Alright!" Connie said abruptly, standing so that Sasha fell backwards onto the couch. "I'm off, see you!" He said, walking off to seat himself next to Marco. Everyone clapped as Sasha put her jacket back on, sitting in neutral. Without speaking, Mikasa got up and sat on the couch next to Sasha. She then started to quietly make a beeping noise, before progressively getting louder and louder to a point where it was even beginning to annoy Eren. Sahsa, being incredibly sensitive to loud noises that weren't her own, got fed up and moved off the couch. She smiled triumphantly as she moved over to take Sasha's place. Unfortunately, no one was as willing as Connie Sasha and Mikasa, and for a moment no one got up. Then, Levi rose from his seat next to Eren and sat on the couch. Numerous people such as Hanji Connie and especially Eren cheered for him. 

Levi stared at Mikasa until she turned slowly towards him. There was a strange sort of tension between the two, and Eren couldn't tell whether it was because of the game or not. 

"Can I help you?" Mikasa asked, looking him dead in the face. Levi took a moment before replying. 

"No. I just have a bad habit at looking at the sun, you know, since people tell you not to look at the sun." Eren snickered, not knowing whether he was trying to use a pickup line or insult his sister. 

"Well, guess you should get some sunglasses on then." She replied, turning away. Levi smirked at her replied, and yawned loudly. Then yawned again, somehow even louder. Mikasa clearly not budging, Levi looked around the room. He sat up for a moment, grabbing a notebook from the pile of Eren's gifts. He began flicking through the pages leisure, and after a moment or two of constant page turned and fiddling Mikasa couldn't handle it anymore. Eren laughed, and before anyone else could get up Eren took the place next to Levi. The shorted boy rolled his eyes, looking away. Eren thought for a moment, wondering what he could do that would piss of Levi to no end. He could think of many things. 

Eren took a deep breath, and let himself go boneless. Well, not literally boneless. He flopped himself of Levi, letting every single instinct to tell him to sit up straight to fade away. Levi pushed him back up, and Eren just fell right back down. Eren was leaning on Levi's shoulder when Levi shifted. Ern went crashing down into Levi's lap. Still, he didn't move his body, only turned his head slightly so that he was looking straight up into Levi's unimpressed eyes. Levi smirked after a moment, looking down at the brunette in his lap. "You're an idiot" He murmured, laying a hand on Eren's hair. They stayed like that for a moment, Eren feeling more content that annoying. Levi ended the moment however when he pushed Eren back to the other side of the couch and went to go sit back on the floor. Eren laughed and some people clapped for Eren's success. 

Hanji then flopped herself next to Eren, and he laughed in what was half fear and half excitement. 

The game continued for ten minutes, and at one point it ended up Hanji annoying Levi. It was easy enough, as soon as Hanji had taken her seat Levi had already moved off the couch. Armin had snored loud enough that Marco retreated, and Sasha had even nibbled on Thomas's head. He didn't sit close to her after that round. Eventually, everyone had had a turn or five, and it was time to start eating. Eren was about to grab a plate when he saw Lev shrugging on his jacket.

"I didn't think it was that cold" Eren joked, making his way over to Levi.

"It will be outside" Levi pointed to the door. 

"You're leaving now?" Eren frowned, his heart sinking.

"Yeah, sorry Eren. I've got to get home to look after Izzy and Farlan. Mum's not getting home until late again because she's picking up a few extra shifts." Eren waved a hand dismissively.

"All good man, I'm just glad you could come."

"Yeah," Levi said gently. "Me too."

"Alright, I guess I'll see you on Monday then" Eren smiled, swinging his arms awkwardly.

"Yeah, see you Monday." The two stood there awkwardly, not quite knowing how to part ways. Levi stood forward, raising his arms slightly. Erne also moved forwards, and they're arms were both almost half raised when Hanji came up from behind them.

"Levi, were you really not gonna say goodbye to me?!" Hanji gasped. Levi retreated from Eren, rolling his eyes.

"Don't worry Hanji, how could I leave without saying goodbye to you first?" Hanji laughed as she hugged Levi. 

"Make sure to say hi to Izzy for me! And tell Farlan I expect him to listen to that list I gave him" 

"Don't worry, I can hear him groaning in pain at night as he listens to them" Levi replied, beginning to walk away.

"Goodnight guys, happy birthday Eren."

"Thanks" Eren smiled, and he watched as Levi walked down the driveway. 

"Come along Eren, great food awaits!" Hanji sang, leading Eren away from where Levi had stood only moments before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was reading through a couple of the past chapters earlier and I'm only just now noticing all of the spelling mistakes I am so sorry-


	16. Mountains of fluff

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren's over at Levi's for the weekend, and Connie and Eren get to hear some good news on their last day of school.

The pillow bounced off Levi's head, falling tragically to the floor. Eren laughed, throwing yet another one up to meet Levi's face.

"Quit it"

"You're the one trying to force pickle Pringles down my throat!"

"You just don't know till you try, Eren. I expected more from you." 

"Did you really?" Eren smiled, hitting Levi square in the face.

"No" He mumbled, tossing it back up to Eren. 

Upon discovering Eren had never tasted said pickle flavoured Pringles, Levi attempted to get Eren to try them. He'd tackled, ambushed and even tickled Eren in a futile attempt to get Eren to try them. Desperate times called for desperate measures, and so Eren had barricaded himself up on Levi's bed, pillows and blankets surrounding him. 

Levi pushed against the makeshift wall, and Eren swatted his hand away.

"Back, fiend!"

"It's my fucking bed" Levi laughed, falling back to the floor. 

"Not anymore it's not."

"Hey, guys-" The door swung open and Isabel walked in, pausing when she saw the view in front of her. 

"Hey Izzy," Levi said, leaning casually against his bed. 

"What are you two doing?" She asked suspiciously, eyeing up Eren's made-up fort. 

"Oh, well your shit-head of a brother-"

"He actually is making a comfy seat that he was going to invite you to sit on. You're here right on time." Isabel's face lit up, and she bounded forward.

"Wait, Izzy-" Eren's warning came too late, as she crashed through the wall and sat in the corner of the bed. Levi took his opportunity and ripped down the rest of the wall, leaping up to tackle Eren. Eren yelled out, attempting to push away Levi and tragically failing. The shorter teen smirked down at Eren in triumph, pinning him to the pin. The two stared at each other for a moment, both panting slightly. Eren searched Levi's face for a sign that he was going to strike at any moment, and also couldn't help but notice hoe perfectly Levi's face was shaped. He was the first to look away, and as soon as he did Levi also sat up. 

"What were you saying Eren?" Isabel asked, sitting closer to him with a devilish grin. 

"Nothing," Eren shook his head, smiling. 

"What are you wanting Izzy?" Levi asked, leaning back on his palms. 

"Well, I was just wanting to know how Eren was doing. Especially with spending the day with you Mr grumpy."

"Says the one who invited him over" Levi snorted, turning to look out the window. 

Isabel has used Levi's phone to text Eren, inviting him over. Needless to say, Eren had been confused by how the text was worded, but he had nothing to do other than play the new Mario Galaxy game with Mikasa like they had been doing for the past week. He'd shown up, and saying that Levi was confused was an understatement. Still, he'd let him in, and the two had discovered that Isabel was the culprit. 

"Hey, surely it can't be that hard to believe that someone wants to spend time with me," Eren said defensively, ruffling Isabel's wild hair.

"Exactly! You're great Eren." 

"Wouldn't you think the same thing, Levi?" Eren turned his attention on Levi, elbowing Levi. But Levi was looking at Eren, he was looking at Isabel with a look Eren couldn't quite interpret. A knock at the door seemed to snap Levi out of his little trance, and he turned his head to see Farlan looking around the room with a blank expression. 

"It looks like you guys have had world war three in here." Farlan looked at Eren, frowning slightly. 

"This is Eren," Levi said. "Eren, this is Farlan." 

"I gathered." Eren gave Farlan a slight wave. He didn't look much like his two other siblings, but Eren hadn't bothered to mention this to Levi. He probably got it a lot. 

"Nice to meet you," Farlan said with a nod before looking at his sister. 

"You said you were hungry before, if you come to the kitchen then I'll make you something."

"But Farlaaaaannnn I'm spending time with Eren"

"What about me" Levi scoffed, chucking a pillow at her.

"You wouldn't do my homework, you are now dead to me." She said, deadpan. Ern laughed, and even Farlan seemed to have a twitch of a smile. 

"Come on, last chance." Farlan said, walking away leaving the door open slightly. Isabel sighed, following her brother without another word. She shut the door behind her.

"He's very..."

"Reserved?" Levi finished, putting his pillows back in their respective places.

"Yeah. Kind of like Erwin, actually."

"God, don't tell them that. People already say they look similar."

"What? They look nothing alike."

"Now that, you can tell them" Levi smiled, getting up from the bed. "Man, you really have trashed my room."

"Don't worry, I'll clean it," Eren said, flopping backwards.

"When, next time you come over?"

"In a minute, in a minute." Levi didn't reply, instead, he lay down next to Eren, arms by his sides. Eren let his eyes wander around the room, taking in greater details. 

"Hey, Levi, why do you like reading so much?" 

"Reading?"

"Yeah." Levi paused before answering.

"Because it's sort of like an escape I guess? Well, not an escape. It's just so easy to sort of fade away into a different place. I guess you could say it's a way to escape from all the bullshit in the world. And Hanji. Good Hanji repellent." Eren chuckled, smacking Levi on the shoulder.

"Hey, at least I didn't say it's a good Eren repellant."

"What types of books do you read? I've never asked before."

"Some contemporary, historical fiction. Fantasy, mainly. Furtherst place to get to." Eren snorted, and Levi raised an eyebrow in his direction.

"Oh?"

"Well, I just think there are plenty of ways to escape. You know, other than reading words off a page and hallucinating."

"Alright then wise guy, how do you get away from the bullshit in the world?"

"Music, I mean listening to music means you can literally block out the bullshit. Exercise too, or video games."

"Well, I still like my way better," Levi mumbled, looking back up at the ceiling. 

"Agree to disagree?"

"Agree to disagree." Eren heard the door open again but allowed Levi to be the eyes for the both of them as he sat up.

"You guys hungry? I've made Izzy dinner so I thought I mas-well offer to make you guys something."

"Thanks, but we'll take care of it ourselves. Thanks, Farlan." Levi's brother didn't reply, just left with the click of the door. The bed sunk beside Eren as Levi fell back onto it. 

"A man of few words I see."

"That's Farlan. You hungry? We can have a look. Won't be as exciting as our other-worldly supermarket adventures but it's better than starving."

"Yeah, sounds good." The two got up from the bed, Eren smiling as he looked at the remains of their little scuffle earlier. The made their way into the kitchen, and Levi looked through the pantries and fridge.

"Okay, so we have pasta, noodles, potatoes or pizza."

"I'm good with whatever. How about pizza?"

"Yeah, we'd have to make our own though."

"I don't mind, Mikasa and I cook dinner all the time when mum and dad are at work late." Eren shrugged, already moving to help Levi get the ingredients.

"So, are you a pineapple on pizza sort of guy or are we gonna have another disagreement?"

"Levi you're a fucking madman. If you put pineapple on my pizza, I think I'm actually going to have to take Isabel hostage."

"Alright, alright. Okay, so we have bases, sauce... where did I put the spoon?" Levi muttered, looking around. Eren held in a snicker, but the look on his face couldn't escape Levi. 

"Eren, where have you put the spoon?"

"I haven't touched the spoon."

"Give me the fucking spoon or you are going to starve." Eren laughed, darting to the side as Levi lunged forward slightly. This happened numerous times, Levi darting and Eren dodging before Eren were finally cornered. Levi pressed Eren up into the corner of the pristine kitchen, prying the spoon from the brunette's hands. 

"Little shit." Levis smiled, playfully hitting Eren on the cheek with the spoon. 

"I do my best." Eren smiled. "You know what we need?"

"Toppings?"

"Well, yeah, that's a given. But I was thinking music. It's quiet without Izzy."

"Alright, but only because we have similar music taste."

"Cool, we'll use my phone then. I've got the perfect playlist."

"Should I be scared?" Eren grinned as he picked up his phone.

"Terrified." Eren selected the playlist, and Levi half laughed half groaned when he finally recognised the song. 

"Really?" Eren also laughed as Toxic played and filled the small space that was the kitchen.

"What better song to make pizza's to?" Eren laughed, dancing slightly.

"Stop you're giving me second-hand embarrassment" Levi opened the fridge, grabbing the container holding the pineapple slices. Eren took the container from Levi's hand and set it down on the bench, taking Levi's hands in his own.

"Eren no" Levi groaned, weakling pushing Eren away.

"Come on, you know you want to" Eren laughed, spinning the shorter boy in front of him. Levi allowed himself to be danced with for a minute or two, the boys laughing and crashing into the appliances around them. They separated when the song ended and listened to the next artist as they came up on the screen.

"Okay, so you can choose from mushrooms, tomatoes, pineapple-" Eren fake gagged. "olives and ham. Actually, I think there might be salami in the fridge as well." Levi searched and came up successful.

"Alright, let' get pizza making" Eren cheered, hip-bumping Levi. Levi attempted to return the favour but proved to be much too small in terms of weight in comparison. Eren laughed at his misfortune, while Levi grumbled in return. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"God I hate school," Eren grumbled, letting his head bang on the desk.

"You'll get a concussion if you do that again," Connie mumbled, his eyes too close.

"Good, then I don't have to finish this stupid internal," Eren replied, picking himself back up to repeat the action. Connie shot his hand out, and instead of the satisfying bang Eren usually heard he was just met with a small 'ouch' from Connie. 

It was the last day of term one, and neither Connie or Eren had finished their English essays. Luckily for them, the rest of the class had the same idea of procrastinating it and had also failed to meet the deadline. Some had given up, like Connie and Eren, while some were still rushing at the last minute to get their's done. The volume continued to increase throughout the period, and eventually, the teacher couldn't take it anymore.

"Okay, why are you all so loud? I thought you were all burnt out."

"No one's finished the internal miss" Something groaned, mimicking Eren as he let his head also drop like a stone onto the desk. 

"What? None of you?" Miss looked around the class incredulously and groaned when everyone shook their heads or just simply didn't respond. 

"Alright then, fine. You can have until the end of week one next term. But if it's not done that's a not achieved, okay?" The class erupted into cheers and thank you's, and suddenly everyone was a lot perkier. Miss grumbled before retreating back to her desk. 

"There is no way I'm doing this in the holidays," Eren said, making a mental note that he actually only had, in fact, one week left. 

"I'll have to think about it. Chances are I'll decide to do it but then never actually do it" Connie smiled, taking his phone out.

"You excited for the holidays?"

"Yeah man, a whole two-weeks of doing no school work."

"Even though we've got mountains of homework to do in the holidays?"

Even though we've got mountain of homework to do in the holidays." Connie nodded, leaning back on his chair. Eren sighed, slowly lowering his head onto the desk.


	17. Holiday Hues

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the school holidays- yay! Eren does a range of things, including adulting and hanging out with a certain someone, as well as others.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I planned out this fan-fiction, I had hoped that I would have been for my learners so I could write about the experience. Unfortunately, this is not the case and I have yet to go for it and my friends who do have theirs weren't awake at the ungodly hour I wrote this so a bit of imagination for you. I also didn't realise just how slow burn the romance, and the plot was going to be so I've done my best to speed things up for the next couple chapters but I just had to have this one because I wanted it so *Insert that emoji face I talked about in the other chapter note*
> 
> Hope you enjoy this chapter, thank you for all the hits and kudos and whatnot, it means the world to me.

 

Eren groaned as an onslaught of knocks were applied to his bedroom door. 

"Eren get the hell up."

"Ugghhhh" Eren groaned again, leaning over to look at the time on his phone. 1:23.

"Eren"

"Yeah yeah. What's the big deal, it's only like 1:30?"

"Only? Eren we are like 4 days into the holidays and you're already sleeping in past noon."

"And?"

"Nothing, I guess, aside from the fact that you have your learner's appointment at 3 and it takes like half an hour to get there, and you have to take the bus times into consideration." Eren bolted up from his bed, practically tumbling out of his bed.

"Shit!"

"Don't let mum hear you swear"

"What's are the bus times again? Every half hour?"

"Yeah, think so. You're welcome." Mikasa added as she walked away from the door. Eren grumbled a thank you, searching the floor for a clean shirt.  _God, I wish my room was as clean and organised as Levi's._ He eventually managed to get dressed and stumbled out his door, crashing against the frame.

"You alright honey?" Carla called out, concern threaded through her voice.

"He's fine mum, just nervous."

"You'll be fine" She yelled up the stairs before turning quickly to Mikasa. "Will he?"

"Yes, mum" Mikasa rolled his eyes playfully. 

"Ahhhh what if I'm late? What if I fail? Mikasa how many can I get wrong again?"

"Three" Eren's father replied for her, walking through the lounge. 

"Okay, what's the hardest question?"

"What side of the road do you drive on?"

"Dad, not helping," Eren said pointedly, tossing the bag of cornflakes from the cupboard to the counter.

"What? It's a very important question." Grisha said defensively.

"He's right, you'd be in a bit of a pickle if you drove on the wrong side of the road."

"Look, Mikasa, dad, I know which side of the road to drive on."

"Well, which one is it?" Carla asked, handing a spoon to Eren.

"The right side, now will you leave me alone?"

"Sure honey" She kissed her son on the head, walking out to sit next to Mikasa.

"You better get going Eren, or you'll miss the bus."

"Shit" He mumbled, shovelling food into his mouth. 

"Eren!" He didn't bother apologizing, merely kept chewing at the fastest pace he could. Finally, after a few more minutes of painfully-fast chewing, Eren got the rest of himself ready before darting out the door.

"Goodluck!" Everyone called, hugging him and wishing him various other words of encouragement.

"Thanks" He mumbled, closing the door behind him. "I'm going to need it."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Woo! Adulting!" Armin laughed, pouring the lemonade into the three glasses.

"Well, not really-"

"Eren, you're onto your first step of driving a car. That counts as adulting" Armin said matter-of-factly, moving onto the last glass.

"Okay," Eren chuckled, opening the grape juice.

"So, was it easy for what?" Mikasa asked, swishing her glass as if it were wine. 

"I mean, he passed so it couldn't have been that hard for him."

"Oh yeah, it wasn't too bad. I only failed three questions."

"WHAT?" Mikasa and Armin yelled in unison, almost spilling the bottle of fizzy over. 

"Yeah, I know right? One more and I totally would have been done for." Eren took a sip, smiling into the glass. It tasted like sugar and happiness, two things he'd been lacking for a while now. 

"Eren do you know how awful that would have been? What questions were they?"

"I can't remember, something about a blue car and a red car turning. Something about a bus. I try to block out unpleasant memories, you know how it goes."

"You are unbelievable" Armin shook his head, smiling.

"And I have to live with him!" Mikasa exclaimed. "Look, he's so uncultured he doesn't even know that we're supposed to make the toast  _before_ the wine is consumed."

"Well, good thing it's not actual wine then," Eren said, raising his glass.

"To Eren getting his learners," Armin said, raising his glass also.

"To Eren getting his learners!" They all laughed in unison, clinking their glasses.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

                                                        6 Days Later

"And then Erwin droppedHIS ice cream as well! Needless to say, Isabel never wants to go to the beach with us ever again." Hanji laughed, taking a sip of her milkshake.

"Wow, you've certainly had your share of the holidays so far" Eren laughed, leaning further into the seat. Erwin grumbled on the opposite side of the table, looking outside the window. 

"What was that Erwin?" Hanji smirked, leaning into him.

"I was just saying that you didn't mention the fact that you were the one who caused me to drop my ice cream."

"Well, I was just so excited to tell the ending of the story!" She whined, practically falling into his lap now. Levi snorted next to Eren. 

"You're the one who bought her coffee, afterall." He said, playing with the straw in front of him."

"Yeah, well you're the sorry bastard who has to deal with it later" Eren laughed, elbowing Levi who just scowled back. 

As is was their sort of high school tradition, Levi and Hanji were currently in their second to last day of their three-day sleepover session that they had every holiday. They were out and about and so had invited both Eren and Erwin to come to hang out at a coffee shop they frequently went to. It was small but popular, which meant that it was insanely crowded. Levi even went as far as to describe it as a reflection of the Earth's current population crisis, a comparison in which Eren enjoyed immensely. Eren adjusted his seating, weighing up whether it was best o be squished up against the wall or to make Levi suffer along with him in the too-small booth as lean into him. 

"So, what else have you been up to Hanji?" Eren asked, leaning forwards onto the table as a resolution. In the process, however, he almost knocked over his drink. Levi managed to catch it just in time, and wacked Eren gently on the arm as punishment. Eren smiled sheepishly as an apology.

"I went on a road trip with my parents actually- very fun time! Enough about me though, Levi what did you do?"

"Isabel and Farlan made me go to a concert with them the other night."

"Who was it?" Eren asked, now testing out putting his elbow all the way on the light window ledge. 

"Pens lens"

"Pens lens?" Erwin asked, an eyebrow raised.

"Don't even ask" Levi ground out, taking another sip of his drink. Erwin didn't carry on, and as tempted as Hanji and Eren both obviously were, they too dropped it. 

"Well, hey hey you Eren getting your license finally" Haji beamed.

"Yeah, a year late" Levi snorted, eyeing up Eren's drink so make sure it didn't almost spill again. 

"Well, better late than never." Eren proclaimed, leaning in close to Levi's face. The shorter male didn't move, just looking unamused into Eren's eyes.

"Eren what the fuck are you doing?"

"It just looks like there's something on your straw." He said, narrowing his eyes. Levi leaned back to observe the straw.

"What are you talking about? There's nothing?" With this new opportunity, Eren lurched forward and took a quick sip." Levi batted Eren away, and it took everything he had not to choke on the liquid in his mouth.

"Dickhead, what was that for?"

"It looked nice!" Eren laughed, raising in hands. 

"Then why didn't you just get it?" Levi asked, now covering his drink defensively as if Eren would strike at any moment. Which he would, but Levi didn't need to know that. 

"Because I wanted this one."

"Well, then you could have at least asked." Levi continued scowling as he turned to Erwin.

"How's work?" 

"Shit" Erwin said accompanied by a groan. "I really thought that the whole 'can I see the manager?' line was only in movies or youtube story times, but holy shit have I heard it a lot. It's ridiculous."

"When is your next shift?" Hanji asked, eyeing up Erwin's drink with a new idea in her mind thanks to Eren's act. 

"Like, half an hour I think? I start at three. I should get going soon but it's just been so long since I've seen you guys." Eren looked over Levi's head to search for a clock to check the time since he was pressed too closely into Levi to grab his phone. On his search, he found a small group of boys who were also in their year, boys who he didn't know on a personal level but could probably name. They were looking over at Eren ad the other three with him, but Eren's gaze easily slipped over them. Erwin smiled, making eye contact with Levi. He smiled back softly, relaxing. Eren saw this sign of weakness, and moved quickly again to get one more sip. However, instead of going for the straw Eren licked the excess cream on the top.

"Eren!" Levi growled, moving his drink away from Een's smirking lips. 

"What?" He asked innocently, smiling at Levi with cream covered lips.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

                                                                                                             2-3 Days Later

"UuuuuuuuuuUUUGGGHHHHH" Eren groaned, yelling in frustration at the end. He threw his pen to the flaw, watching it bounce before it came to a stop.

"Okay, you're getting it this time" Connie laughed, bopping Eren on the head with his own pen.

"This fucking sucks, I thought we'd actually get shit done today."

"Speak for yourself, I wrote like my whole plan and an entire page. Just because you're too lazy to do shit."

"I'm not lazy."

"Oh yeah? Then why haven't you even finished your plan?"

"I'm just unmotivated." Eren pouted, rolling over so he was looking up to the ceiling. "We've only got a few more precious days of the holidays left and we're stuck doing this stupid internal!"

"Whose idea was this again?" Connie asked, glancing over at Eren's form. He looked so uncomfortable, as he wasn't flat on his back but rather in some sort of twisted position on his side. 

"Does it matter? Either way, it was a bad one." Eren said, grabbing his phone.

"Eren what are you doing?"

"What does it look like?"

"I'll tell you what it doesn't look like, doing this damn English internal."

"Thanks, captain obvious." Connie didn't say anything for a moment, but finally, like Eren, he took dropped the pen on the floor as grabbed his phone. A couple of minutes later Mikasa walked in, and a sweet smell entered the room.

"What's that amazing smell?" Eren asked, tilting his head back to see his sister. 

"Cookies, I thought I might give some to you guys for- wait, what are you doing?" Mikasa frowned, her eyes dropping to the floor to see the discarded pens. Eren and Connie made eye contact.

"Uhhh... doing our internal?" Eren said, giving Mikasa a nervous smile. 

"You two are unbelievable," She said, rolling her eyes as she turned to walk out.

"Mikasa wait! Cookies?"

"Not until you finish the internal, stupid." Eren and Connie collectively groaned as they heard the door click shut. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I ALSO FIXED MY ITALICS PROBLEM YES


	18. Jelly Jean, Eager Eren, Vampire Levi

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys are back at school. Yup.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M BACK AND READY TO FINALLY DIVE INTO THE ACTUAL PLOT NEXT CHAPTER THAT HAS TAKEN WAY TOO LONG TO FINALLY GET INTO. Benchmarks are over and it was terrible but I passed the majority of them so that's what matters. I stopped writing for a while and couldn't get back into it and then I realised it had been a week and then it turned into 2 weeks somehow and I was like SHIT so I am sorry for the wait :') I also picked up the art of drawing so that takes a lot of time but I think the new shiny effect of a new hobby has worn off and I'll be writing a lot more often. And this is the last week of school for this term so yaaaay.  
> Anyways enough of that, I actually edited this one (it was edited with me running on 5 hours of sleep barely able to keep but I think it's pretty okay) so I really hope I've fixed most of the mistakes in here!  
> Anyways, hope you enjoy this chapter:)

There's something magical about the first Monday back after the two-week break, something fresh, new, calm. Eren could feel it as he walked into his tutor class, a grin on his face as he dropped his bag onto the closest chair. As it the surface with a loud thud, a couple of people turned to look at the source of the sound. Most looked away after a second, but a few eyes lingered on Eren. He shrugged it off, sitting in his chosen seat next to his bag.  _Maybe they're trying to figure out whether I got a haircut or something._  He pulled out his phone and began to scroll through his social media, not really knowing what to do with his time. He was a bit unsettled when he glanced up to find that people were still looking, but instantly relaxed when their attention turned elsewhere.

"WHAT'S UP FUCKERS!" Eren jumped in his seat as he whipped his head around, breaking out into a smile when he recognised the familiar voice. Connie walked in as if he owned the place and also as if he had never left with Jean in tow. That was another thing about the first day back- almost instantly it felt like you had never left.

"Hey man," Eren said, moving his bag to make room for his friend to sit. "Long time no see." He joked, patting Connie on the shoulder. He laughed, shrugging off the brunette. 

"You just can't live without me, can you?"

"You two are both hopeless," Jean muttered also dropping into a seat. Eren looked at his face for a moment.

"What's got you so down?" He asked, looking down at his phone. He kind of cared about Jean, they were kinda friends, but he also kind of didn't want Jean to know that. He didn't need to know that, he might get cocky about it afterall. 

"It's because he's boyfriend isn't at school." Connie teased, leaning back into his seat. Eren raised an eyebrow, not looking up.

"He's not my boyfriend." Eren let out a loud 'ha'.

"Oh cut the crap horse face, you're totally in love with him."

"Shut up Jaeger, how many times do I have to tell you to stop calling me that?"

"Look you can't deny two truths in one conversation, so pick just one" Eren retorted, finally putting his phone away to fully emerge himself in conversation.

"Anyways, how were the rest of your holidays Eren?"

"They were good. I did like, nothing."

"As usual."

"Fuck you."

"What about you Jean, aside from spending time with freckled Jesus how were your holidays." Eren snorted at Marco's nickname. 

"It was good, spent time with mum. Travelled with my aunt."

"Absolutely pleasant to have a conversation with, as always Jean." Eren chirped, amused by the fact Jean hadn't picked on the fact Marco had just been nicknamed freckled Jesus. "Why's Marco away?"

"His mum's not feeling well so he stayed at home to look after her." Jean didn't look at the boys next to him, in fact, he ignored them completely. Eren had already had his fair share of bantering with Jean for one day, so he turned back to Connie. 

"Well, how did you find the rest of your holidays?"

"Really productive, actually! I did some more of the English internal, did some maths and just general study you know how it is."

"Not really, considering you  _never_ study."

"I do with Sasha!"

"Are you kidding? That's like saying you play soccer with a tennis ball."

"That was an absolutely terrible comparison, Eren Jaeger I am highly disappointed. I thought you were an outstanding literature student?"

"If you're referring to back in year 10, then duh. Man, Mr Rumney was such a good teacher. Too bad he doesn't teach thirteen English or I might have taken it."

"He does, dipshit." Jean piped up, still keeping his uninterested facade up. 

"I've heard different things from different people," Connie said thoughtfully.

"Yeah, well, you both suck because I'm always right." Eren huffed, pulling his phone back out. Even if it was the first day back, some things just never changed. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Well if it isn't Eren Jaeger," Erwin said, looking up from his bag as he rustled through it.

"It is indeed." He replied, dropping his bag as he had done in tutor. 

"How are you?"

"I'm good, not particularly happy to be back here at hell but eh, could be worse. Good to see you guys."

"True." Erwin smiled, refocusing on his search through his bag. Just as Eren was about to turn around a large weight crashed into him from behind, and he already knew who it was without having to see their face or hear their voice.

"EREN!"

"Hanji" Eren grimaced, fearing that his back would break under the pressure. She wasn't that heavy, especially not for a girl her age and size. It was just that she seemed to be full of so much energy that her mass seemed to increase specifically when she wanted to pounce on someone.

"How is my favourite ocean eyes?"

"Ocean eyes?" Eren scoffed, raising an eyebrow. "You come up with that one yourself?"

"Well, actually, it was-"

"Hey, Eren," Levi said a bit too loudly, and Eren turned around to look at him. His face hadn't changed one bit- same pale skin, slightly slanted dead-inside looking eyes that were a calm stormy grey, perfect jawline. The whole works.  _Why am I thinking about this again?_ It wasn't like his face would have changed anyway, it had been what, a week? Eren mentally shook his head and shot Levi a smile. 

"Hey, Levi. How are you?"

"I want to go home but aside from that, I'm pretty okay. How are you?"

"Well, so far I've been attacked by a wild Hanji so you can get a pretty good idea of how I am I would think."

"Rude." Hanji huffed, turning away. Eren didn't pay any mind to her however, as he noticed a new addition to Levi's face.  

"You've got a nose piercing!" He exclaimed excitedly, bounding forward to inspect it further. Levi shied away, lifted his arms up slightly as if to shield off the taller male. 

"Back up a bit, would you? You're borderline Hanji closeness."

"You two are so mean." Hanji pouted.

"No can do mister, I need to see this up close. Man, you're going full on edge, aren't you? What's next a tongue piercing?"

"He was actually going to get one," Erwin smirked, finally sitting down with a book in his hands. "Until Isabel started worrying that it would get stuck and rip his tongue out."

"Isn't she like, fourteen?" Eren smiled, tilting his head in questioning. 

"Thirteen, actually. You know how she is."

"Not to mention Farlan called you an emo."

"Or, you know, we could mention the proper reason which is that I'm too fucking poor for a tongue piercing. Plus they take ages to heal and there are heaps of dickheads that don't watch where they're going and might smack into me."

"Aw, is a little Levi scared of a bit of pain?"

"Would you like to get your tongue pierced and I knock you're head around and feel how much it hurts?" Eren merely laughed, leaning in closer to look at the piercing. 

"It looks really, really good. I'm almost jealous."

"Almost?" A faint smile danced on the shorter male's lips.

"Almost." Eren grinned back. He then went to go touch it, curious as to how it would feel under his fingertips. Levi was quick to slap his hand away with a growl, however. Eren let out a stream of laughter, retreating with his hands held up.

"Aw Levi, I just missed you, that's all!"

"Eren you're so damn cute!" Hanji squealed, cuddling Erwin's arm. Erwin rolled his eyes, putting an arm around Hanji in return. Levi smirked and playfully punched Eren on the shoulder, moving past him to put his stuff down. 

"Alright, well I just wanted to say hey. I better get back to tutor, Connie is just so absolutely helpless without me." Eren said dramatically, feigning daintiness. 

"Why don't you stick around? We haven't seen you in ages, afterall. Just for interval." Levi suggested, taking a seat. Eren stood for a moment, thinking. He could go back, as he hadn't seen Connie in a little while either. On the other hand, he had brought his stuff with him and it would be kind of a waste of time to go all the way to the top of A block for twenty minutes to just come back down. He also had missed Levi, Hanji and Erwin. He could also sit with the others at lunch anyway. So, with a shrug, he made up his mind.

"Sure."

"Great!" Hanji exclaimed, moving over to make more room for Eren. Said boy took the seat, making himself at home on the surprisingly cold bench. The sun must not have had a chance to heat it up. 

"Right so Levi, as I was saying before Eren rudely, interrupted us."

"What do you mean I-"

"Hush Eren, that's enough from you. Anyway, so Levi, if you just think about it-"

"No Hanji, for the last time, going to a country with a different time zone is not time travelling."

"But why not? Because if you think about it-"

"Because of space and you have been going at a certain speed and all this stuff. You're the one doing three sciences, you should know how to answer this question by yourself."

"You take physics too, it's always nice to have a little bit on insight." Hanji laughed, looking to the sky with a sigh. "Well, I still think it's time travel."

Eren shook his head, looking around at the familiar surroundings. A group of year nine's walked past at that moment, as well as a small group of fellow year 12's and a couple of year 10's. The year 12s and year 10s continued on their way without a second glance, however, the year nines glanced over at the small group. The looked long enough that Eren noticed their pointing, but not long enough for it to appear as a lingering look. Eren shrugged it off, as he had done earlier in tutor. Year nines were weird, and they had only just started high school a few months ago. 

And besides, it's kind of hard to keep your attention on anything other than Hanji when she's whining and making a scene.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eren tapped slowly at the keys on his phone, wanting nothing more than the day to end. Yes, it was only the first day, yes it was lunch, and yes he was probably being a bit over dramatic. But he enjoyed the simple things in life, such as sleeping in and scrolling through his feed. The two things he was unable to do when school was in session. 

_Hey, where are u?_

_At a SCAT meeting with Hanji, I told you this like three times Eren._

_Armin I'm boreeedddd. Jean sucks abd Marco also showed up but he's talking to Thomas instead of horse face so he's getting all jealous and pouty. It's rlly disgusting, actually._

_Eren stop being awful. Go study or something, get some sunshine maybe. Right now I'm busy so text Mikasa or someone._

_You know what? you're right. Jean doesn't suck. You such >:(_

_Goodbye, Eren. See you after school._

_(Nice spelling by the way)_

Eren groaned as he let his head fall back, and after a moment of staying like that he stood himself up and began to clear away his minimal items sprawled out on the desk in front of him. Marco cut out of his conversation with Thomas when he noticed Eren, getting ready to leave without saying a word.

"Hey, where are you going? You okay?" Jean began scowling at Eren, making sure that he was the only one who saw it. Eren ignored him, not being bothered to start an argument. There was always tomorrow, it wasn't hard to piss off an asshole afterall. 

"I'm just gonna go and ask Levi if he's free this weekend. I need help with..."  _Shit, what the fuck do I say?_ "Physics?" Eren said after a pause, more a question than a statement. 

"But you don't take physics?" Marco replied, knitting his eyebrows together.

"HA ha HA! You're right, you got me! Just checking that you're sharp for next period! He's helping me with English."

"Oh... okay." Marco looked at Thomas with a look of scepticism. Eren couldn't figure out if he had fooled them or not. Obviously, the real reason he was leaving is that he couldn't give two shits about the new Titanic Disaster video game that had just come out. Not that he would ever tell that to his friend's faces, of course. 

"Why don't you get Armin or Mikasa to help you? Or Connie? I thought you two were doing the internal together?" It was then that Eren realised the two boys seated opposite him were sharing a look that he couldn't quite put a name to. Odd was the only thing that came up.

"He's helping me with external stuff, not the internal, and Connie's in just as much shit as me in terms of English externals. Mikasa's busy with her own stuff and Armin... well, you know how he is. Busy. Yep. Besides Levi offered, so." Eren shrugged his shoulder before throwing his bag over his shoulders. He just needed to get out of there as quickly as possible. He wasn't sure how it happened it, but somehow he had gotten more awkward and bad at coming up with excuses as the years went on. Connie blamed it on the fact that all of his good excuse ideas were put towards excuses for school, but for obvious reasons, Eren didn't quite agree.

"Alright, have fun then," Jean said, using a tone so obviously dismissive that Eren's blood boiled slightly on a temperature of about a 2. 

"Cool, see you," Eren replied smoothly, turning on his heel and walking out of the classroom without looking back.

It didn't take too long to reach the spot here Levi usually sat, and when he did he was filled with concern when he saw Erwin on the phone looking rather distressed. Eren stopped a few meters away, not sure whether he should approach or not. Luckily Levi noticed him and waved him over with the smallest of smiles. 

"Hey," He said, making room for Eren.

"Hey. Is Erwin okay?" Eren flicked his eyes over to Erwin who had now wandered even further away.

"Yeah, just having some family issues, nothing too serious."

"Shit, that sucks." Eren took a seat, smiling at Levi. Already he could feel the boredom seeping out of his bones.

"Right, so what brings you here?

"I was bored back in tutor, Marco and Thomas were talking about some new video game and Jean was being a jealous bitch."

"What?"

"Don't even ask." Eren laughed softly. The sun disappeared behind a cloud, and Eren glared as goosebumps made an appearance on his skin. As if on cue, Levi looked at Eren's arms.

"You've got goosebumps." He stated, and began moving around slightly. Eren was searching through his back to look for an umbrella in case the rain began to fall when he felt a soft lump of material fall on him. He looked back to see that Levi had dumped his jacket on him. It wasn't the jacket Eren was looking at however, but rather Levi's arms.

It's not like he's never seen the guy's arms before- that would be kind of weird. But it was an unusual sight, Levi's arms. They were pale, his wrists small and speckled with a few freckles. They were small, but nothing like noodle arms. Even then realised that he was staring at Levi's arms for perhaps a few seconds too long, and snapped his eyes back up to Levi's. If Levi had noticed Eren, he didn't show it. 

"What's this for?"

"Because you're cold, idiot."

"Won't you get cold?"

"Nah, I don't really get cold in my arms." Eren looked to said arms, and discovered that he was in fact void of any goosebumps.

"You're like a fucking vampire or something I swear." Levi laughed, rolling his eyes and he punched Eren gently on the shoulder. 

"Shut up."

"What? You're deathly pale, look like you wanna kill people half the time, stay out of the sun, I've never seen you eat anything with garlic in it-"

"I like garlic a lot actually. Besides, vampires don't eat at all." Levi defended, but was ignored as Eren continued.

"-you don't get cold,  _and_ you're super young looking. Well, not like SUPER young looking but you're ageing well." Levi couldn't hold in his laughter at that one.

"Are you serious? I'm  _ageing well?_ "

"Yeah, you should take it as a compliment. Although, I guess if you were a vampire you wouldn't be ageing at all. Hey, who knows, maybe you're not. What next, you're super ripped underneath that shitty old school uniform?" Eren had meant this as a joke of course, but Levi's eyebrow raise raised so many questions and curiosities in Eren's mind.

"Wait, are you-"

"Hey Eren." Erwin cut Eren off, sitting down with a weary smile.

"Hey." The brunette replied, smiling back.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, everything's sorted. Anyways what brings you here?"

"He was sharing with me why he thinks I'm a vampire" Levi smirked, leaning back against the building behind him. Erwin quirked an eyebrow.

"A vampire eh? Makes sense. Although I think he passes off as being a ghost too."

"And why's that?" Eren's grin kept growing bigger as Levi's scowl hardened. If Eren didn't know any better, he'd think that it would permanently settle on his face for the rest of his life. 

"Pale, always looks kind sad or angry. Scares people. And, his emo phase haunts me." Erwin smirked, clearly done with his analysis. Eren however had a new flame.

"Hang on, you had an emo phase?"

"Shut the fuck up Eren."

"Hey that's not fair, Erwin brought it up!"

"And you picked up the subject so drop it like a good dog and shut up." Levi smiled bitterly, but Eren couldn't help but laugh.

"Alright, alright."

"You're supposed to wear it by the way, idiot."

"What?"

"My jacket, you're meant to put it on."

"Oh, right." Eren flushed slightly, settling it over his shoulders. Levi had given up however, rolling his eyes as he didn't bother to tell Eren he should put it on  _properly._

The three sat in silence for a few minutes, accepting the cold wind and the yelling students that walked past them.

"I really don't want to go to photography. I think I might ditch, if anyone wants to come."

"Seriously? It's the first day of school." Erwin exclaimed, looking incredulously at Levi who just shrugged in return. 

"What can I say, I'm just not in the mood for photography."

"But you probably won't even do any work anyway. It's the first fucking day!" Eren said, instantly joining Erwin's side.  _This guy is unbelievable._

"Alright, so I suppose neither of you will be joining me?"

"Nope." Eren popped the 'p', letting himself fall against Levi's shoulder. Erwin just gave Levi a look. 

"Well," Levi huffed, glancing down at Eren will disappointment filled eyes. "Guess I'm going to photography then."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Excited for the next chapter, the plot thickens!


	19. Threshold Rumours

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren is alerted that there are some circulated thoughts around both the girls and boys schools, and Eren gets a faceful of it throughout the day. As a result of this, he begins to notice a few new things about Levi he'd previously turned a blind eye to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hooray, rumours! 
> 
> This took me too long but it's done at long last (I swear I say that everytime oops. Enjoy, I had fun writing this!

Mikasa flicked on the light, causing Eren to hiss at the sudden brightness change. She rolled her eyes, sitting back on the bed.

"Chill, you damn gremlin."

"A little warning would be nice, thanks!"

"Don't be stupid" His sister snorted, adjusting the laptop screen. "Sorry Armin, as you were saying?"

"All goods. So pretty much, Hanji wants to add a playground to the school which I mean isn't a half bad idea-"

"If it were anywhere else but a high school-" Eren cut in.

"-But she thought that it was a job for the SCAT team, and no one really knew how to approach her in saying it most definitely is not a job for the SCAT team."

"Man, we don't even have the budget for a playground." Mikasa groaned, falling back. "Our school's funding is shit, and it's probably because we're an all-girls school. It's not fair."

"Aw, sorry sis. But hey, you could always do what Hanji did?"

"And spend the rest of my days with you lot? I'm good thanks."

"Wow, thanks."

"Speaking of 'you lot'" Armin piped up, looking at Eren through the screen. 

"Yeah?"

"Hanji told me that you and Levi have been hanging out a lot more when I'm not there. Have you had a falling out with the others or something?"

"What? No, it's just that I never know what they're talking about half the time and Jean's always making googly eyes at Marco which is just annoying now, and Connie keeps complaining about his stupid internal which he wouldn't have to complain about if he just did it!" Eren realised his outburst and smiled sheepishly. "Besides, is it so wrong that I like to hang out with Levi? Erwin's there too, you know. And the great Hanji herself."

"You're getting really close, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I guess we are." Eren raised an eyebrow. "What, jealous?"

"No, no I couldn't care less." The blonde shook his head, mimicking Eren's frown. "Aren't you just worried that people might... get the wrong idea?"

"Wrong idea? What?"

"You know, people might start assuming stuff. I mean, it's an all boys school. There's some crazy stuff that goes around" Armin waved his arm around. Eren continued looking on confused before he finally let out a short burst of laughter and loosened up a bit.

"What, you think people are going to assume that we're what, dating?"

"Well think about it, you're around each other a lot and you are quite affectionate with each other."

"Oh God, you're being serious. Touching doesn't mean dating, people'd have to be stupid to think that."

"Hey I'm just looking out for you man, don't shoot the messenger. And besides, if you were gay or bi or whatever, I wouldn't care."

"Neither would I," Mikasa added pointedly. 

"You're not even delivering anything, you're just giving me a concern that's probably mostly invalid. But thanks, you guys." 

"No, no Armin's right. You guys have been pretty touchy."

"Okay, what are you guys hinting at? If you think there's something between me and Levi then just ask, and, oh, by the way, the answer is no!" Eren snapped, glaring at the both of them evenly. 

"Chill!" Mikasa raised her hands as Armin had previously done.

"Look, it's just- There's kind of been like, full-blown rumours about you and Levi. Quiet, obviously, seeing as you haven't heard of them, but you know. They're there." Eren laughed, beginning as a low rumble in his chest before building up into a racking of his ribs.

"Who the hell- Why do they think that?"

"We literally just told you. I mean, they're getting pretty big. There's even a rumour about a couple of gay guys at your school circulating around at my school, no names thankfully."

"You guys are just being paranoid. Sheesh, I didn't think I came off as gay. Oooh, speaking of which." Eren leaned forward, a devilish grin plastered on his face.

"Guess what people are saying about Sasha?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tuesday mornings always sucked, always felt as if they would never end, and it was all because of stupid house assemblies. 

They lasted for way too long, were filled with pointless bullshit, the rowing kids never seemed to get the idea that  _no one wants to join rowing no matter how many rowing videos you show,_ and for Eren, it meant that you had to sit in silence trying not to laugh or get distracted while Connie was dicking around next to you. 

But at least they had chairs. Chairs were a good start. 

Eren shuffled slowly, step after step into the overcrowded hall that really wasn't even a proper hall and had more of a gym feel.  He glared down at a pair of year nines who were shoving each other, clearly not giving a shit that there were people literally two centimetres away from them. Fearing that he wouldn't be able to stop himself from snapping at the two, Eren looked up around to the rest of the hall to figure out where on earth his class was sitting today in an attempts to distract himself. Whoever set out the coloured signs with the tutor class initials could never figure out where they wanted the year twelves to sit, and it was constantly a guessing game of which side of the hall you were on. Eren's eyes scanned up and down the rows, looking for his tutor classes sign for a familiar face at least. 

However, instead of finding either of those things, Eren found a finger pointing in his direction. He squinted to see if they were from his tutor class, or at least looked familiar, but as far as he could tell it was a complete stranger. Now the finger had lowered, and the small group of boys sitting with the owner of the finger had turned to look at him, one even snickering. Eren looked away, fiddling with the hem of his shirt a bit. 

As he finally found a seat next to Connie who was disconnecting the seats in front of him, Eren completely forgot about the boys and that strangely accusing finger. 

Twenty excruciating minutes later, Eren was walking out of the hall with a farewell wave to Connie and Marco, who unsurprisingly were the only others in his friend group to show up. Well, as well as their teacher of course but he stuck to standing at the back of the hall sending warning and disapproving looks to them as they continued to make a ruckus. 

Eren took a deep breath of air as he finally made it out of the stuffy room. He had P.E, which was not the best subject to have for period one but in a way beat maths. He walked past the canteen when he saw Levi walking in the same direction. It only just occurred to Eren that he didn't know what house Levi was in. Levi's eyes surveyed the space in front of him before they locked onto Eren's. The two smiled at each other, becoming casual enough that waves seemed redundant. 

"Hey," Eren said, coming to a stop. Levi did a same with the smallest of smiles.

"Hey. What do you have?"

"P.E"

"Ew, why do you take P.E?"

"Some of us don't have amazing metabolisms such as yourself. What do you have?"

"Photography, unfortunately"

"Why'd you take it? You never seem to want to go."

"I dunno," Levi shrugged. "It's a good subject, I just don't like what we're doing at the moment."

"Fair enough. Hey, I was thinking that-" Eren cut off his sentence when he noticed that Levi's focus was elsewhere. Eren raised an eyebrow, shooting a quick glance over his shoulder. 

It was a group again, and Eren wanted to say that it was the same from the assembly but he honestly didn't remember the faces. They were watching Eren and Levi as they walked by slowly, muttering things to each other that Eren couldn't quite hear. Levi's eyes snapped back to Eren, an apologetic smile on his lips.

"Sorry, what were you saying?" Eren hesitated for a moment, unsettled by the fact that the group was still so close. 

"Do you not find it... odd? That people are staring at us." Levi didn't reply, instead rather turned his attention back to their little audience. They finally reached the point where Eren didn't have to look back to them, and that was when Levi reacted to them. One of the boys was right at the point of looking at them when he was cruelly snared in Levi's unwavering eye contact. He seized up, eyes going slightly wider. Levi then smiled, waving slightly. The boy quickly broke the eye contact and scurried away, his friends pestering him for a reason. Eren let out a laugh, leaning his head on Levi's shoulder.

"Dude, you fucking-"

"Sent him the message that staring and pointing is fucking rude and if he thinks we're so nice to look at he should just ask and I'll charge him twenty bucks an hour?"

"You scared the shit out of him!" Eren cackled, retreating back to stumble slightly in his laughter. 

"What? All I did was smile and wave," Levi said innocently, a small genuine smile now dancing on his lips. Once Eren's laughter died down, he began to think about what about he and Levi there was to stare at. Then he thought back to what Armin and Mikasa had said previously that night. 

Shit.

"Hey, why do you think they were staring?" Eren asked nervously, searching Levi's eyes for any sort of recognition of reason. 

"I don't know, who cares? Probably just my piercing. It's pretty fucking cool. Anyway, don't want you to be late to P.E, might have to run an extra lap."

"Haha, very funny." Eren rolled his eyes playfully, pushing Levi. "Have fun in photography."

"Funny story." Levi continued walking, not even a glimpse sent back Eren's way. Eren also walked on, an unsettling feeling lodged in the bottom of his gut. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"What? No, dude piss off." Thomas muttered, turning away from some year twelve who's name Eren couldn't bother to recall. Eren continued to swing on the bars of the canteen line, pretending to be focused on Armin's explanation of why the real debate should be not whether pineapple belongs on pizza, but whether tomato belongs on pizza. In reality, his attention had been diverted from any sort of conversation when Thomas had been pulled aside by said friend. Thomas had sent a lot of rolled eyes, "are you serious?"'s, "you're being stupid"s and "See this is why English is actually a terrible subject, it makes us analyse and find symbols and shit where there really isn't any"s.

It is pretty hard to focus on a conversation about pizza toppings when things like that are being thrown around, obviously. Aside from those phrases, Eren hadn't been able to pick up much else from the conversation. However, it wasn't that hard to pick up the glances being thrown his and Levi's way. 

Okay, so maybe Armin and Mikasa may be onto something. It wasn't even just that morning in assembly and after, but it had also been at interval. As the day went on, Eren looked back at all the times people had seen Levi and Eren being maybe a bit too 'buddy-buddy' with each other. 

Often they were pushing each other around a lot, but most people did that with their mates anyway. In Hanji's games, they often had to work together and touch each other physically but it was obviously just because of the game. But then there were times like when they were at that coffee shop together, and the second time in the holidays. Maybe someone had even seen them sprinting from the small greenhouse. In any case, it appeared that there may just be rumours circulating about the two. 

But what about the two? That they were gay? Gay with each other, dating? Eren had never really given a second thought about his sexuality, not really caring for a relationship at all. Connie had even said that Eren was cursed with 'not ever being able to love'. But even if he was on either side of the spectrum, he didn't have feelings for Levi.

Did he?

Eren looked over to Levi for a moment, watching as he nibbled happily on his cheese toastie. 

No. No, he did not. 

Sure they'd had great times together, ditching interval an lunch to go on supermarket adventures together. Sure Eren enjoyed going over to Levi's to help tutor Isabel. Sure he liked to just generally hang out with Levi, liked texting him and the occasional phone call. Eren looked back over at Levi, still nibbling away oblivious to Eren's judgment. 

Levi was in closer range to the conversation, so surely he'd at least heard what Eren had if not more. Thomas was finally able to shake off his friend, saying goodbye with one last hidden eyeroll. 

"What was all that about?" Eren casually asked, doing his best to keep his nerves out of his voice. 

"Oh, nothing. He was just asking about something." Thomas looked off dismissively, but Eren couldn't help but hear an edge of guilt to Thomas's voice. 

"Cool." He couldn't be nosy. That would be dicky. Besides, it probably wasn't about him and Levi.

Probably. 

For what felt like the hundredth time, Eren peeked over at Levi. He was looking over as Thomas's friend walked away, a blank expression on his face. His body was slack, relaxed and completely uncaring as it leaned against the canteen wall. He was undisturbed, and Levi was good at that. Being undisturbed. He'd shaken off that group earlier when they were very clearly staring and pointing and even though he'd been closer to Thomas and the other guy he seemed completely chill. Not to mention that if Armin and Mikasa had heard things, Hanji and Erwin must have at least heard a lick of a rumour, and surely would have told Levi. 

Yet there he stood, completely relaxed, still okay to be around Eren despite what people were possibly thinking and assuming about them, unnerved by anything that happened around or to him. 

And now currently catching Eren in the act of staring. Great. 

Eren looked away after giving Levi a small smile, not waiting to see Levi's reaction to him staring. He took a deep breath, exhaling in relief. If Levi wasn't bothered, why should he be? And besides, why did it matter if there were possible rumours about them? It's not like they  _were_  dating afterall. 

Hanji and Erwin collected their things from the counter, and suddenly the group was moving from the canteen to where Levi and co. usually sat. The good weather wouldn't last forever, so they had all decided to sit outside. 

Eren tried to shake off his newfound nerves, tried to shake off the memory of pointed fingers and whispers and eyes staring, of Thomas's friend glancing at Eren and Levi as he 'asked Thomas about something.' He really did. But his mind kept switching back, switching between the conversation with his friends and his worries about what people were thinking. And as he had asked himself before, what on earth were people thinking that they were, that they did? 

The most obvious one would be that they were assumed to be dating, Armin and Mikasa had sort of hinted that when they said that he and Levi were quite physical with each other. And what did couples stereotypically do? They went to places together, on dates, maybe to the movies or the beach or out to dinner. They spent a lot of time together, more than they would other people probably but not always. They'd hug amourously, flirt unforgivingly, kiss here and there, get to a point where the bed would get involved and one would be beneath the other, hands in the other's hair or clawing at their back-

Eren shut off the door to that train of thought instantly. He blushed fervently, looking down to make sure no one noticed. He looked up quickly just to make sure. 

No, he certainly didn't do that stuff with Levi and never would, not in a million years. He liked mint slices for fuck's sake, what if he kissed him after eating one? Or worse, that damned cheese toastie, still warm in his hand. 

Sure, there's a chance he's not straight. Hell, he's probably not. There were never any girls that caught his fancy, but then again he never really saw any girls aside from his sister and Sasha. Besides, he really wasn't looking for a relationship in the middle of NCEA. Bad idea.

"What no, that's not- listen Armin, if Eren ever lost your badge I would personally beat his ass straight into hell for you. Hear that Eren?" Levi said, looking directly at Eren. The brunette could only hope that his flushed face had calmed down a bit.

"Loud and clear, captain." Eren playfully saluted. He intended to look away, he really did, but he couldn't help but realise something he'd never really thought of before. 

Levi was, actually, quite attractive.

He was short, but it wasn't an off-putting height. His hair was beautifully black, the undercut suiting him as Eren had never seen his suit anyone else before. His jaw was sharp yet soft along the outline, and though his eyes were slightly slim they still managed to appear so awake. 

So, he was attractive. But was Eren attracted to him? No.

Maybe.

No.

Yes?

It didn't matter, really.

Much. 

Did Levi ever begin to think of these question when he heard about the rumours or witnessed traits of them? Did he think about Eren's appearance, find him attractive? He didn't exactly radiate heterosexuality but then again, what did he know?

Unbeknownst to him, Levi had made his way to walk by Eren's side. He bumped Eren's shoulder playfully with his own, giving the taller male a small smile. Eren smiled back, hoping it didn't come out more of a cringe.

_Shit, what is happening to me?_


	20. Levi the Window Ninja

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren is an unfortunate procrastinator, and so has not completed his English internal. Levi, being the holy Jesus that he is, offers to help Eren with it after school.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WE FINALLY MADE IT this is where the real plot kicks in and I am so sorry it took this long???? I'm terrible with pacing even though it looks fine in the outline. I hated this chapter when writing it but I actually kind of liked it when editing it so :/ let me know how you found it. 
> 
> I've had a really good past three days in terms of writing and the next chapter is already done, but I have to wake up early tomorrow so I don't have time to edit, but it will be up tomorrow some time.
> 
> There was something else I wanted to say while editing this eeerrrmmmmmmmmm
> 
> I can't remember. But quick question, do you guys find the time skips annoying? Like to me it feels like there are heaps but it might just be me?? Are there too many??? Pls let me know.
> 
> Anyways, hope you enjoy :)

"AaaaaAAAHHHHHH"

"Shut up."

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH"

"Connie, quit it."

"AAHHHHHHHHHHHHH"

"CONNIE!" Eren slammed his hand on the table, tempted to let his head follow in suit.

"EREN" Connie yelled, clearly trying his best to smile a stress-riddled smile.

"Look, complaining about it won't help. You're almost fucking done anyway, just do it."

"But I don't want tooooo" Connie flung his head back with closed eyes, the laptop in front of him now irrelevant and forgotten. Eren rolled his eyes, turning back to his own screen.

As it were, their English internal was due by midnight and neither of the two had finished. Surprise surprise. Connie was further along that Eren, just his conclusion left that  _would_  have been done half an hour ago if Connie had decided that words on the page were more helpful than words projected out loud in the form of complaints. Eren's procrastination wasn't much better, and he still practically had to overhaul his entire essay.

Not good. 

"Hey, do you think-"

"Alright, that is enough out of you two. If I catch you talking again one of you is going to be sitting up here with me. Honestly, I chose to be a high school teacher and not a primary one for a reason." Miss said, sending a look of warning their way. Connie looked apologetically at Eren before straightening and getting back to his work. Eren sighed inwardly and did the same.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hey it's okay buddy, you've still got all of tonight."

"To do a terms worth of work?"

"It's not like you're starting from scratch, you've got time. Besides I can always give you mine to look at if you want, considering you are debating it." Eren replied with a long pained groan. 

"You already gave it to be at internal, idiot." The two came upon the entrance to the library, Eren looking warily in. "Well, I guess I'll see you later." He huffed, giving Connie a half-hearted wave.

"See ya" Connie gave Eren a sympathetic smile as he too waved, and turned. 

Eren continued into the library, already looking for a spare computer. When he saw none, he went to get out a laptop. One left. Unfortunately, it was going to die in about fifteen minutes. Perfect, just what he needed right then. Eren growled as he entered his login details, and opened up the document. In theory, the internal wasn't that hard. Just pick a piece of art and write an essay on it. Easy. Simple. 

Not. 

The panic was starting to set in. He needed these five credits, and he really didn't want to add any more red to his pie chart. Besides, he was pretty sure that if he failed then Connie would fail too which just added a whole new layer of pressure onto his consciousness. Eventually, Eren was able to get into it, writing faster than he usually would and making dozens of typos as he went along. In fact, he was so into it that he didn't notice Levi walk in, book in hand.

He slipped it into the returns box, heading to the bookshelves beyond. At least, that seemed to be his intention before he noticed Eren. Eyebrow raised, he made his way over.

"Hey," Eren jumped right out of his skin, head whipping around to meet cool, calm eyes. It took Eren a moment to register that it was Levi only centimetres away from his face. His heart picked up in pace.

"Jesus, you scared me."

"Not quite Jesus, but I'll take it as a compliment to be seen as the one and only holy man." Levi teased, looking to Eren's computer screen. 

"Sorry, it must have been the sun reflecting off your extremely sexy piercing that made me mistake you for our holy lord and saviour."  _Did I really just call his piercing sexy?_  

"Yeah, right." He snorted, now pointing at the screen. "So, what're you up to? I thought you and Armin were going to that crash-pad rounders thing?"

"Oh shit, I completely forgot about that" Eren groaned, leaning back in his seat. "I have this stupid English internal due tonight but I'm an idiot who procrastinated because I never learn my fucking lesson and now I don't know if I'll get it done on time." 

"Surely you will, it looks like you've got a decent amount of stuff done already," Levi said, leaning in a bit closer to actually read what had been written. 

"No, I won't, I don't even fully know what I'm doing" Eren sat back up, eyes scanning briefly over the screen. What he had written wasn't even that good, and he felt oddly embarrassed that Levi was currently reading it over his shoulder. 

"Hey, I think I've actually done this internal. It's the essay debate one right?"

"Yeah"  _And you probably got excellence on it, stupid academically gifted shortie._

"Well, maybe you could come over tonight and I'll help you with it. Doesn't seem like you have many other options, anyway unless you ask for an extension, have you tried that?"

"She already gave the whole class like, a three-week extension."

"Oh, right. Well, my offer still stands then. Mum wouldn't be bothered and I think Isabel would be absolutely delighted"

"It's no use" Eren shook his head. "I'm not allowed out on school nights, sacred Jaeger family rule."

"Is it a sacred Jaeger rule that you can't have people over? It won't take long anyway" Levi peered down at Eren, a small helpful smile on his face. He was willing to sacrifice his afternoon to help with an internal that had probably been a piece of cake for him.

"What a gentleman you are," Eren said, straightening up. "That sounds great."

"Cool, just text me your address and I'll be over around five. Can't leave the other two alone, sorry."

"Yeah no, that's cool." Eren waved his hand dismissively. "Thank you, really."

"All goods. That's what friends are for, afterall." The two looked at the laptop screen for a moment, not really knowing what else to say.

"Welp," Eren said after a minute, clasping his hands together.

"Right. I'll let you do your work then, and I'll go find a book. See you tonight." Levi nodded, stalking off to the back of the library without another word. 

At the end of lunch, Eren walked out of the library with a smile on his face. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

_Hey, I'm on my way now. Will be 10 mins._

Eren read the text with a smile, already typing out his own. 

_Cool, see you soon._

Eren tossed his phone gently onto the bed behind him, turning back to his desk. The document was open in front of him, a paragraph or two that had been completed between the times of lunch and the hour Eren had been at home. If Levi was going to put in some effort for Eren, then Eren would put in some effort for Levi. 

Even if it wasn't very good. At all.

Deciding that he'd done enough, Eren stood from his seat and stretched. He looked around the room, suddenly insecure. 

Levi had never been over at his place before, which meant that he'd never been in his room, which meant that he'd be able to see the roots of Eren's personality. Not that he thought that Levi would judge him, but it was still a scary thing when someone was coming into your room for the first time. Eren's eyes surveyed the floor, finding pieces of paper and clothes cluttering up the space. Deciding that it wouldn't be fair for Levi to work under such messy conditions, considering his own room was as clean as a freaking palace, Eren began to pick up his things. It took some time, but eventually, his floor was more than seeable. And just in time too, as he heard a car pull up outside his house. 

He raced down the stairs, skipping two steps at a time.

"You know, if you keep doing that then one day something's gonna go wrong and you'll break that face of yours," Mikasa said, watching Eren disapprovingly. 

"Well, it's not like anyone likes looking at it anyway." Eren laughed, racing to the door. 

"What's the rush anyway?" His sister called out. Eren didn't reply, only smiled as he opened the door. The smile faded however when Eren realised that Levi hadn't yet made it to the door. In fact, he hadn't even made it out of his car yet. Eren's face flushed as he closed the door, leaning against it. What was wrong with him? It's just weird if you stand waiting with the fucking door open like some creep. After a moment of calming down, there was a heavy yet nervous knock on the door. Eren swung it open, smile reappearing.

"Oh thank god, I was terrified I got the wrong house." Levi huffed, pushing past Eren into the house. "It's fucking freezing out there. Shit, are your parents chill with swearing?"

"Not exactly," Eren mumbled, closing the door. Eren led Levi into the house, suddenly feeling exhausted and not at all wanting to do the work. Mikasa watched warily as the two came into view, and she eyed Levi up for a second. 

"Who's he?"

" _He_ is a person you can talk to yourself." Mikasa looked to the boy beside her brother, a bored expression on her face. Scarily enough, Levi was able to mimic a pretty similar expression of his own. 

"Who are you?" Mikasa asked again, her tone unchanged. 

"Levi. And I'm assuming you're the delightful Mikasa I've heard so much about?"

"Guess that's something we have in common then"

"What?" Mikasa gave Levi a smile that did more than just unsettle Eren.

"Heard a lot about each other."

"Alright then! Levi we are going to head up to my room now to do my internal and you, Mikasa, will not disturb us as we work hard on our... erm.. work. My work, anyway. Levi, do you want some water?"

"I'm good thanks," Levi said, finally breaking eye contact with Mikasa. They made their way up to Eren's room as Eren had said. He was just thankful to get out of the atmosphere in the lounge. Who knew that putting two equally sour looking people together could create such tension?

"Sorry about Mikasa, she's a bit..."

"Bitchy?" Levi took off his jacket, dropping it thoughtlessly onto the end of Eren's bed.

"I was going to say not good with strangers but okay. You know, usually, when you come over to someone's house you don't call their sister a bitch."

"Usually when you carve out your evening to help said friend not totally fail a five credit English internal, their sister doesn't treat you like a piece of shit within five seconds of meeting her." Levi looked Eren straight in the eye, and Eren wasn't sure if it was a challenge or not.

"Right, fair point. Anyway, on with work!" Eren turned on his heel quickly, scooping up his laptop. This is not how he thought his night would be going. Levi seemed to have eased up however, as he took a seat on Eren's bed expectantly. 

"Alright, so what did you guys choose?"

"We chose a painting. It actually ended up being The Scream." Eren chuckled to himself, moving himself to sit next to Levi on the bed.

"Really? You couldn't have chosen something easy like a book?"

"Hey, it was Connie's idea and stubbornness that prevented us from doing the book thing." Eren raised his arms in defence, barely catching the laptop before it slid off his lap. 

"Okay then. Well, are you doing the negative side or the affirming side?"

"Negating. I think." Eren smiled sheepishly as Levi sighed through his teeth, running a hand through his perfectly parted hair. Seriously though, how did he get it so even?

"Alright, just- just let me have a look at your points and we'll go from there."

"Sounds good." Eren hummed, surrendering the laptop. Neither of the boys spoke as Levi's eyes panned across the screen, his eyes furrowing slightly in concentration. It looked... cute. Almost. 

"Can I be blunt with you?" Levi said after a moment, flicking his eyes up to Eren.

"Uhh yeah?" Another moment passed.

"It's a piece of shit"

"No shit!"

"Alright, just clearing the air in case you didn't know."

"Levi, I can tell when something's a piece of shit."

"Okay, then why did you write it as a piece of shit?"

"Because I was under pressure okay?!"

"You had at least three weeks on this!"

"I procrastinate a lot" Eren groaned, falling back onto the bed. Eren heard the very faint sigh of Levi. 

"That's okay, we can fix this. I mean, the points aren't bad, just the whole execution of it all. We can work with this."

"When do you have to be home by?" Eren rolled onto his side, peering up through his unruly fringe. Levi didn't turn to meet Eren's eyes, as he was set on typing away in an attempt to fix what Eren had started.

"Not anytime, really. I'd prefer not to get home too late because of my driving stuff but really, who's out past ten looking for teenagers on their restricted. Seriously, there couldn't be a safer time to be driving. There's not even any cars around!" Levi's typing speed increased, along with the crease of his brow.

"Man, I still can't believe you've got your own car."

"Well, it's kind of a family car. It's gonna be Farlan's and Isabel's as well when they get around to driving, so I'm trying to hold onto this slither of freedom and ownership of it while I still have it."

"If Mikasa had to share her car with me, I think she'd baby proof the car"

"Are you saying that out of the fact that you don't have any confidence in your driving abilities or the fact that she's the one who doesn't have any confidence?"

"I dunno, probably a mix of both to be honest." Eren sat up, resting his chin on Levi's shoulder. Instantly he was overcome with the scent of Levi, a scent that was indescribable aside from one word- pleasant. He didn't say anything, just kept typing away as words continued to fill up the blankness of the page. 

He felt bad, in all honesty. Levi was doing all the work it seemed, which left Eren in a position where he was being useless.  _Well, if I'm not gonna contribute anything work-wise I mas-well be the entertainment._

"You know, I never understood spring cleaning. I still don't. You wanna know why?"

"Humour me," Levi said, eyebrow raised. 

"Well, why spring? Wouldn't summer make more sense? Or winter? Like, in summer it'd be nice and warm and you have lots of free time because it's the Christmas holidays, and then in Winter there'd be no bugs!"

"Yeah, but the weather is equally good in spring as it is in summer. And it doesn't matter what season it is, they'll still be spiders hanging around. They don't just disappear off the face of the Earth, Eren."

"I know, but still. Who even came up with spring cleaning, who decided it would be spring and not something like autumn cleaning?" Levi's typing paused, before he opened another tab. 

"Well, you weren't wrong about the winter thing. Apparently, it's really common to do it in the winter as well as the spring. No one really knows where it came from, but there's a bunch of theories. Look." Levi pointed at the screen, and Eren eagerly read long.

"Huh, who knew?"

"Right, stop distracting me." Levi playfully shoved Eren off his shoulder, watching as the brunette dramatically fell to the bed. 

"Right, work time."

"No more distractions."

"No more distractions."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"And then, I told her no, fuck you! If I'm going to be the king of freaking cardboard castle then you can't have the freaking sceptre. But she wasn't having any of it of course, and so proceeded to kick the chair from underneath me." 

"You didn't actually say fuck though, did you?"

"Levi I was like, eight."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning I may or may not have, I can't really remember if I'm being honest with you but that's not the important bit. Anyway,"

Unfortunately, the two had not been able to stick to their agreement of remaining quiet and getting on with their work. Not completely anyway. Eren had continued to feel useless and even began to feel restless as boredom took over. He'd started with chucking a ball around- then he threw it at Levi which didn't end well. Eren then began asking rhetorical questions, to which Levi began answering at one point. Needless to say, it had spiralled down from there.

"End the end I won and Sasha lost."

"Would I hear the same narrative if I asked your sister or Sasha herself?"

"Well, if you did who would you believe?"

"Who would I believe indeed" Levi smirked, finishing off his current paragraph. Eren rolled back onto his stomach, letting his arms hang motionless of the bed.

"Tell me something about your childhood, I've told you like, a bajillion stories."

"That's not a word."

"Shhh don't think about it. Just tell me anything."

"I'm working."

"Bullshit, you haven't been working for like ten minutes now. Come on"

"Fine." Levi sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Well, the day mum brought Isabel home, she also bought me an Edgar Ellen Poe collection."

"Seriously?"

"Yep."

"How old were you? Shit, that must be why you're so goddamn smart."

"That's not how it works Eren."

"See? So much smarter than me already in this conversation." 

"Whatever." Levi rolled his eyes with a slight smile, turning away from Eren as to not get distracted again. This lasted all of three minutes until Eren forced his head onto Levi's lap.

"Eren what the hell are you doing?"

"Play with my hair."

"No."

"Pleaaaasseee?"

"Stop being a brat, no."

"You suck" Eren pouted, wriggling his way into a more secure position. Levi tried to move away so he could successfully continue on with his typing, but Eren was rather persistent. Levi sighed, glaring down at the bright-eyed boy in his lap.

"Alright, if I play with your hair will you finally get up?"

"Yup, promise." Convinced (barely) Levi threaded his fingers through Eren's hair, kneading it and tugging it gently causing Eren to hum with content. After a solid five minutes had passed Levi pulled away, causing Eren to whine incoherently.  

"Five more minutes"

"Promise?" Levi growled, his hands returning to their original place.

"Promise."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Uuughhh I feel like SHIT"

"Yeah? Well I feel numb because  _somebody_ decided to take a fat nap on my lap"

"You playing with my hair is just so soothing, it's like how my mum used to."

"Yeah well, I'm not your mum. So get up."

"Agghhh" Eren groaned as he sat himself up, stretching out his limbs in an attempt to wake himself up properly.

"Hey, what's the time?" There was a pause as Levi checked.

"Wow, shit."

"What?"

"It's almost three in the morning."

"Shit, where did the time go?"

"Into the jar of 'wasted time'"

"Ouch."

"I'm just kidding, Eren. I'm  working on the conclusion now and then you'll be able to send it in."

"Miss said it was due by midnight."

"Well, just tell her it sent late. You of all people expected to be good with excuses."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Considering you told your mum, Connie and your teacher an extravagant story on how you went on an adventure with the class plushie dog and lost it in the woods when you saw someone in the distance behind a tree, I would have thought that ten years later you'd be able to come up with something of around the same scale"

"Shut up" Eren murmured, flushing slightly at the memory. Why did he tell Levi that again? Levi didn't reply, and Eren didn't bother with starting a conversation. He was too tired, and it seemed that even though Levi may  _look_ like a vampire who hadn't slept in centuries so now longer needed to, he did look like he was reaching the end of it. Not to mention he still needed to drive home. 

"Alright, and... done." Levi tapped once more definitely, looking up to Eren with a slight tug of his lips. "We did it"

"Well, you did most of the work. I'm sorry about that"

"You would have made it worse by touching it"

"Ouch"

"Shut up, it's three am, I'm allowed to be blunt."

"Fine." Eren grabbed his phone, sending a quick text to Connie announcing that it was finished. Not that he expected a reply of course, but then again you never quite knew when Connie was going to be awake or not. He then proceeded to curl up in the fetal position on the bed, glancing at Levi briefly. 

"Well, this was interesting, to say the least... and took much longer than expected. Where does your laptop go?"

"Just on the desk" Eren murmured, his eyes already slipping closed. Levi picked up his small bag, slinging it over his shoulder.

"Alright, I'll-"

"Just stay the night" Eren breathed, nestling closer into his pillow. "It's three in the goddamn morning."

"I can't, I've gotta drop Izzy and Farlan off tomorrow since mum's working early."

"Alright, but don't wake up my parents. Or Mikasa. She'll roast you on a spit."

"Dead or alive?" But Eren had lost consciousness, and so it was that Levi would probably never know the answer. He rolled his eyes, dropping his bag back onto the floor briefly. He looked around for a blanket, draping the one he did find over Eren. re-collecting his bag, he put a hand on the doorknob and hesitated.

He'd probably make a lot of noise just going down the stairs, not to mention opening and closing the door which was possibly locked. He didn't give a shit about Mikasa, but parents, on the other hand, were people you didn't want to piss off. 

So, although Eren wasn't awake to witness it, Levi took it upon himself to excuse himself out of the Jaeger household via window. 


	21. National Asshole Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren's feeling relieved about his internal finally being finished and turned in, however that doesn't stop the fact that 'the look' has come into existence and Levi's acting a bit off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bit of a short chapter- whoops. I had a 3-hour drama rehearsal and I'm tired as heck so if the editing is a bit off I'm sorry XD
> 
> After editing, I have realised this chapter is v short. You know I get so tripped because when I read fanfictions they're usually 15-20-25 chapter long, but the word count still reaches over 100k or even 200k and I just?? How do you fit that much into such a short amount of chapters?? WHO GRACED YOU?? But yeah, warning this is going to be probably at least 34 chapters and I apologise in advance.
> 
> You're all so sweet and I love you all, hope you enjoy this shit-show of a chapter!

"It feels  _so good_ to have that internal done!" Eren sighed, punching the air with a closed fist.

"Fuck yeah, five credits in the bag. Well, assuming we didn't fail."

"Don't worry, I'm pretty sure Miss would have made it obvious if we did. She doesn't exactly like us." Eren clapped Connie on the back, smiling wider than he had in a long time. 

"Great, great reassurance," Connie said sarcastically, rolling his eyes playfully.

"What can I say? Look, it's all over and done with and hopefully, they'll be resits if we failed which, as I said already, I'm sure we didn't."

"You're always so optimistic," Connie said fondly, resting his head on Eren's shoulder.

The two boys walked into their maths class with spirits raised, and they were elevated even more when they realised they had a reliever. A reliever was like a personal gift from God. Everyone knew, even the relievers themselves, that if it wasn't the actual teacher taking the lesson then none of the students were going to be taking the lesson seriously. Except for Armin, but he was at a SCAT meeting so Eren and Connie were free to dick around as much as they wanted this period with no consequences.

"So anyway, like I was saying this morning I really think that-" As Eren was about to take his seat, Connie pulled the chair out from underneath him. He stumbled for a brief moment before crashing to the ground, the word tipping upside down as he fell to meet its surface. Even before feeling the impact shoot up his spine and expand through his hips, he groaned at the anticipated pain.

"Conniee you dick. I was happy once, you know!"

"You were just too happy for my liking." Connie teased, already moving to help Eren up. A snicker sounded from behind them. If he hadn't just been a victim of the classic pulling-seat-out-under-person trick and if he wasn't humiliated that he literally fell for it, Eren would have snapped at whoever it was. Instead, he hoped that his face was too red as he took his seat properly, keeping a wary set of eyes on Connie who was still shitting himself in the seat next to him.  _Asshole._

"... wonder his arse hurts, I bet it couldn't have been worse than..." Someone said behind Eren, their voice switching between volumes of high and low. Obviously, they had to be talking about him considering his arse  _did_ hurt a shit tone, and it wasn't just his arse. The second part that Eren had heard though, that was a bit strange.  He shrugged his shoulders to himself. They were probably comparing it to an incident of their own, it made more sense. Still, they didn't have to be dicks about it happening to Eren. The brunette looked over to his friend, a plan already formulating on how he would get him back later. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"How're you feeling now?"

"I feel like the Earth packed as much punch into that falling as it could, a way of saying 'fuck you' for that one time I littered when I was like, five." Connie doubled over with laughter, holding onto a smiling Eren as they walked. Eventually, Connie's laughter died down, and he turned to Eren.

"Since you couldn't make it to crash-pad rounders the other day, there's a game of dodgeball going on if you wanna come join. Finally convinced Armin and Marco to play."

"Nah, sorry. It sounds awesome but I've gotta talk to Levi about something. I might join later though."

"Oh, okay." Connie seemed to have started walking slower. That was when Eren noticed  _the look_. 

The look consisted of a slightly furrowed brow, one of them being slightly raised, mouth set in a set line and a locked jaw. It was a face of questioning, confusion and accusing. The only thing it did was confuse Eren, so he too mimicked the raised eyebrow. 

"What?"

"Nothing. Alright, I'll see you later then." Connie began to head off without another word, waving his hand in farewell.  _Okaaaayyy. Strange._ Eren began to head over to where he prayed Levi would be, preparing what he was going to saw in his mind. He'd make it quick so it wasn't weird, just a quick in and out. Then again, it didn't have to be that quick. He was just saying thank you, there was nothing awkward about that was there?

Right.

Wrong.

Left? 

Eren shook his head, trying not to think about it too much. Soon, he came upon his destination to find Levi leaned up against the wall, arms crossed with a relaxed smile on his face. Eren smiled, for reasons he couldn't really pick up upon. It quickly slipped when he saw who Levi was smiling at, however.

It was Armin, not quite standing yet not quite leaning on the wall, book in hand talking to Levi undoubtedly about something intelligent. Jealousy and envy weren't new to Eren, he'd felt them plenty of times before, which meant that he was no stranger to the pang that shot through his body at the sight of his two friends. He quickly shook it off, not even one hundred percent sure what had caused it in the first place. Armin was talking to Levi, big deal. Eren made his way over, taking a deep breath to shake off his newfound, confusing jealousy. Levi looked up at the sound of him approaching, and raised a hand in a small waving gesture, smile still stuck in place.

A backflip was the best way to describe what Eren's heart was in the process of doing. 

"Hey," Eren said once he had reached the two, his hand also raised. 

"Hey, Eren" Armin smiled, while Levi said nothing.  The smile was already fading. 

"But anyway," Armin turned back to Levi. "Thanks for the recommendation. If you want, I can send you a list later of a couple I think you'll like." It had always made him wonder, had always puzzled Eren that Armin had never seemed the least bit frightened of Levi. They'd always gotten along, smiling and talking as if they'd known each other forever. Maybe that's what Eren was feeling envious of. Either way, it was a stupid feeling.

"Yeah, sounds good" Levi nodded, now resting his head on the wall along with the rest of his body. His eyes flicked up to Eren, an emotionless stare that left Eren with slight panicky feeling. The three stayed silent, Eren and Levi locked in eye contact leaving Armin to shift from one foot to the other. Eren, feeling rude and awkward and as if he had just intruded on a very personal conversation, turned to Armin.

"Hey, I heard you're finally gonna play dodgeball."

"Oh, crap I forgot about that." That was when  _the look_ made its second appearance of the day. The eyebrows and all. It hadn't affected Eren at all when Connie did it aside from making him confused, but now having seen it a second time Eren felt slightly pissed off. Maybe that was the jealousy talking, but either way, Eren wasn't a fan of this new facial expression.  

"You, playing dodgeball?" Levi asked, a smile re-brandished on his face.  _He's smiling an awful lot today, isn't he?_

"Yeah, Connie wouldn't let it down so it was just easier to say yes. Alright, I'll see you guys later, then." Armin gave Levi one last shy smile before walking off briskly, not looking back. Eren and Levi both watched as Armin walked off, and it wasn't until he had disappeared completely from sight did Levi finally look back at Eren. 

"Fancy seeing you here." Eren laughed, feeling as all the tension faded from his body. This was Levi- there was no need to get awkward or stressed.

"Haha, very funny. I just wanted to say thanks for the other day. Miss accepted it without a hitch." Levi looked at Eren with a look that wasn't quite  _the look_. Really, it wasn't anywhere near it. This look was Levi's signature 'blank look', the one that he would give you once you told a really bad joke. Yet, somehow, it wasn't quite that look either. It lasted a moment too long, a moment long enough to send Eren into a spiral of panicked thoughts. 

"Cool, happy to help." Levi finally said, pushing against the wall to begin walking away. Not sure whether it was a signal for him to follow or not, Eren decided to bite the bullet and just follow along anyway. This continued until Levi looked back, stopping dead in his tracks.

"Can I help you?" He sighed, running a perfect hand through his stupidly perfect hair. Eren looked at the male in front of him, astounded.  _What is it, national asshole day?_ Eren ground his teeth, borderline glaring at Levi.

"Stop being a salty bitch about it, you did most of the work, I get it but remember YOU'RE the one who said if I touched it I would have made it worse. It's either talk to you or get bashed up by a fucking dodgeball and I'd rather take my chances with you." Levi almost seemed to relax at Eren's outburst,  physically softening under Eren's gaze. 

"Alright then, if you're so adamant to take your chances with me then you've got another thing coming. Here," Levi reached out and grabbed Eren's wrist, already tugging him along. "You have officially joined me in the hunt for Hanji. That four eyes said she'd meet me here ten minutes ago." Levi looked back one more time after releasing Eren, with not quite a smile but not a blank frown either. 

Eren tried not to notice the lingering feeling of Levi's touch on his wrist. 


	22. Rumours

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren learns some shit news- and finds out that Levi has heard the same thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AHHHH IT'S BEEN SUCH A LONG TIME SINCE I'VE WRITTEN IT'S A CRIME.
> 
> So sorry for my extremely long absence, school has been an absoloute pain in the ASS and I haven't even touched my laptop in like 2 weeks. But it's over now and I've just got exams and then I'm freeeeeee.
> 
> It's November which means that it's NaNoWriMo, which means I'll be writing at least 1300 words a day to meet my goal of 40,000 so I'll be updating this fic a lot more often. I won it last year starting 8 days late with a fic that will never see the light of day, so let's hope it all goes well.
> 
> Anyways, hope you enjoy the chapter! It's kinda short and kinda shitty but eh, it's important in it's own way. Thank you so much for waiting and yeee. :)

"What? No, Halloween is the best holiday. You get to dress up and trick or treat!"

"Yeah, but eventually people stop giving you candy unless puberty misses you. Christmas though, Christmas will always pull through."

"I haven't seen a Christmas present be given to any adults in my family like, ever. What makes you think that'll change?"

"Bullshit, parents always get stuff."

"Okay true but it's useful stuff like freakin' soap. Honestly, who doesn't already have soap for a start so it's not even that useful, but like really. Soap?"

"Honestly Connie, you smell like you need some." Eren teased, leaning back in his chair.

"Asshole!" Connie laughed, taking a swipe at Eren from across the table.

"What? It's true and you know it"

"No offence Connie, but after dodgeball yesterday you definitely needed it" Marco smiled, laughing when Connie slapped a hand over his heart.

"Not you too Marco! I feel so betrayed right now. You guys suck." The three began to laugh, however Eren's cut short when Jean entered the room. And there it was.

_The look._

But not quite the look, either. It was a smirk, with a raised eyebrow and smug look that made Eren want to punch it right off his horse-shaped face. Eren turned away, attempting to ignore the new presence in the room. He couldn't be bothered trying to figure out what the smirk was for, and just couldn't be bothered with Jean's shit all together. He was going to have a good day- and not even Jean could ruin that.

However as the conversation continued with friendly banter between friends, Jean said nothing. He'd give googly eyes to Marco occasionally, laugh at a couple of Connie's jokes about Eren, but these things only took up some of his attention. The rest of it was directed right at Eren, that smug smirk sprawled on his face as he looked at the brunette. Eren tried his best to stick to his plan, he really did, but when there was an asshole looking at you for ten minutes straight it was hard not to snap.

"What do you want, Jean?" Eren asked exasperated, turning his abruptly to Jean after making yet another dick joke about Connie.

"What? Nothing" Jean shrugged, looking away and making a very obvious show of it.

"Really? Because it seems like you want to look at me for an extremely long time with that mess you call your face. So, just come out and say it already."

"Why, Eren, I don't know why you'd think such a thing." Jean faked shock. Eren narrowed his eyes, trying to send the best 'fuck you' he could muster. "In fact if I were you, I would be the smug one?"

"What do you mean?" Eren rolled his eyes, simultaneously crossing his arms.

"Well," Jean leaned forward onto the desk slightly. It took every ounce of control for Eren to not slap him across the face then and then. "I just thought that after finally getting laid you'd be a bit cheerier, on top of the world you know how it goes. Although, I guess it might not have really been what you were looking for."

"What the fuck are you on about?" Eren snapped, glaring at Jean.

"Well, rumour has it,"  _Dear God, here we go._ "That you had a certain person sneak out of your window the other night at two in the morning. A certain  _boy._ " Eren's face went slack, his jaw cracking open in the slightest as he leaned back into his seat. The certain boy was obviously Levi, considering it was no rumour. Although, it was three in the morning, not two.

"What the fuck are you- where, when? Okay, yeah, Levi came over and had to leave early- _that_ _fucker left through the window?_ We didn't do anything like that he was helping me with an English internal! Even Connie can vouch for me. Right?" Eren whipped around to get Connie's perspective, but Connie was looking around nervously at the class. Apparently, in Eren's confusion, his voice had raised enough to gain the attention of his tutor class. Eren took it upon himself to make eye contact with everyone who was still looking at him after he'd noticed the stares, making it apparent that he didn't want anyone listening in on any more of the conversation.

"Don't shoot the messenger, man."

"Where the fuck did you hear all this?" Eren hissed, his glare returning to its rightful spot.

"I don't know, just sort of heard about it. Rumours spread fast, you know that. Not always accurate, but spread nonetheless." Jean leaned back into his chair, relaxed, obviously feeling accomplished. Eren now wished he'd gone through with the urge to slap him.

He couldn't have this rumour spreading about him, he just couldn't. He'd heard plenty of rumours, most being stupid and insignificant. But one about  _him_ , and him being  _gay_ of all things? With Levi  _of all people?_

"Jean I swear to god if you started this or if you added gasoline to the flame I will  _kill_ -"

"Chill man, why the fuck would I start it? I don't hate you that much, Jesus. I just thought you'd like to know what was going on." Jean rolled his eyes, crossing his arms to match how Eren's had previously been.

"I suppose you want a thanks?"

"Not necessary. I would like to know however, if it's true."

"Wha- no, of course it's not fucking true! As I said, Levi did come over but it was for absolutely no-homo reasons. He must have just not wanted to wake up my parents leaving and like the fuck he is, he left through the window. I didn't even know!"

"Well," Jean snorted, pulling out his phone. "Sucks to be you."

"No shit. Look you know what? Just. Argh! I'll be back." Eren stood, almost knocking over his seat as he stumbled out of the class. He walked down the hall, looking for a place he could panic in peace.

This was not good, not good at all. He couldn't give two shits if people thought he was gay, he wasn't and he knew that. Besides, there was nothing wrong with being gay and he wasn't about it start treating it as if it was just because people thought he was. No, his problem was how Levi would react.

Eren had always loved his friends- cherished them in his own way and wouldn't trade them for the world. They'd had his back when no one else did- and they'd also been there at three in the morning to send and share memes with. But Levi, Levi was different.

Levi had been an asshole at first, but he'd never gone out of his way to be particularly awful. He'd helped him out when he needed it and no one else was around to save him, and he had done so multiple times. No one else, not even Connie, was willing to sneak out of school to go get food with him, no one else had the same attitude towards Hanji's games- hating them on the outside but also secretly having fun on the inside. No one else was able to dish out and take insults and names like Levi, which made Eren feel more comfortable about letting out his inner asshole. Levi was a cool guy, and he and Eren had become such good friends in such a short time.

And Eren would be damned if he was going to let a stupid rumour ruin it all. How did he not know about it?

And then everything seemed to just, click into place.

Mikasa and Armin had tried to warn him about it, about how people might be getting the wrong impression of their closeness.  _The look_ that both Connie and Armin had given Eren before they left him alone with Levi. The looks those people had given him that Tuesday morning, and all the other little things that had happened since he and Levi had been hanging out more often  _God, I'm so fucking stupid._

Footsteps sounded from behind Eren, and he whirled to be faced with Armin. He looked nervous, guilty almost.

"Hey, I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Eren asked, running a hand through his hair. Like how Levi had run his own hand through it.

"I tried to- so did Mikasa. I just didn't know how to tell you. You don't exactly just say 'hey, people think you're getting gay with your new friend, just a heads up" Eren laughed, causing Armin to crack a crooked smile.

"Alright alright, you're off the hook this time."

"Thank god for that, because I really need you to give my badge back."

"Oh right, sorry." Eren fished the badge out of his bag, handing it over with a smile. Armin smiled back, looking straight at his best friend.

"And Eren?"

"Yeah?"

"I don't know if it helps, but if you say nothing happened then I'll believe you."

"Thanks, Armin."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The F block bathrooms sucked, but at least they weren't a mile away from the classics class. And at least Eren had needed to go just before they were about to have a mini test. He walked along the worn down path on auto pilot not paying much attention to his surroundings. 

Eren made it to the bathroom, and smiled slightly when he saw who was walking by. He waved a hand in greeting, successful in catching Levi's attention. The shorter male made his way over to Eren, hand mimicking Eren's gesture. They hadn't seen each other in a couple days, seeing as they'd just been busy with their own stuff. 

"Hey, long time no see" Eren smiled, feeling relaxed for the first time in a couple of hours. "How are you?" Just as Levi was about to reply, mouth already opening, two boys walked out of the bathroom to come pretty much face to face with Eren and Levi. Eren's heart sank when he saw the expression on the two boy's faces. 

It was the look, that damned cursed look. The worst part was, now he knew what it all was about. 

Before Eren could react and send them his own look disapproval, Levi seemed to have beat him to it. His eyes had narrowed down into a glare, radiating off the most terrifying aura Eren had ever experienced from him. And it wasn't even directed at him! The two boys- who appeared to be juniors no less- looked away almost immediatly from Levi's imitading gaze, and hurried off. Eren smirked. If he didn't know any better, he would have thought they were the ones who were doing the gay activities after coming out of the bathroom together like that. Eren, remembering what had just occured, looked down at Levi who was still staring down the two boys. His eyes then flicked up to Eren's expectantly.

It was in that look that Eren understood that Levi was fully aware of the rumours. Afterall, how could he not be? He wasn't an idiot, and it wasn't like the same information wasn't cirlcing around Levi and his peripheral vision. Suddenly feeling extremely awkward and uncomfortable, Eren looked down, already feeling excuses forming on his tongue.

"Oh, um well- cool seeing you. I'll see you around." He mumbled, slipping into the bathroom, his face turning beet red. After attending to his business, Eren turned on the water on full, not caring how much water he was wasting. He didn't particulary care about anything at all in that moment. 

So, Levi knew. Levi knew, and now there was no going back. What if he decided he didn't want to hang around Eren anymore, or what if he thought that Eren might not want to hang out with him? Eren loved all of his friends, Armin Connie and Mikasa and all the rest of the gang, but Levi was certainly different. He was quiet in his own way without being shy or quiet or brooding- though he could be any of those things if he really wanted to. He wasn't afraid to ditch, to bitch or to face the consequences of getting caught when bailing Eren out of some stupid shit. He wasn't afraid of anything it seemed.

How much of a shame it was that Eren was deathly afraid of losing him. 

This whole incident could Eren bring out differences in Levi's behavior, bring out a side Eren had never seen before. He could be homophobic for gods sake. Eren had never asked about his sexuality, had never thought twice about it. He was Levi, and that was all that mattered. That was the best part, even. He was just Levi, plain straight forward. 

And the strange thing was... he didn't even mind it. The rumour. 

Sure, it sucked that people were just assuming he was gay, considering he hadn't even thought about it that much at all himself. Why bother with getting in a relationnship, girl or boy, when you could be sending memes to a group chat at three in the morning?

And if he did go for the same team, well, he woulnd't mind if it was Levi. He was as caring as a guy like him could be, he was attractive as anyone could see, being straight or not and well, he was just Levi. 

_God, no. That's gay isn't it? Or is it not?_

Eren shook his head, spalshing water vigioursly onto his face. Okay, so maybe there was a chance he wasn't straight. That was okay, right? He had nothing against being gay. 

Still, the thought of people talking about him and Levi doing intimate things didn't sit well with Eren, and he prayed to whatever God was out there that his face wasn't burning up too badly as he left the bathroom. 


	23. Potato God

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's raining and Eren's stuck outside- he and Levi have an important conversation. Eren meets a holy potato.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SURPRISE DOUBLE UPDATE!
> 
> I just couldn't help myself, I ended up finishing this chapter just before editing the last one and I feel guilty for not updating in ages lol. 
> 
> I am so freaking excited for the next chapter though, you have no idea how much I've been itching to write it. I want it to be perfect and hopefully, I'll be able to finish it tomorrow so I can edit it over the next couple of days.
> 
> Anyways, enjoy this chapter :)

Eren fought with the wind, his umbrella taking the most brutal beating from the wind it had ever endured. Erwin wasn't faring much better beside him, doing his best to swat away the raindrops that were descending into his eyes but to no avail.

"Come on Erwin, is there no way we can just go inside?"

"No, Levi's being a dick and refuses." Erwin ground out, giving up and letting his hands drop to his sides.

"This fucking sucks" Eren grumbled, refusing to be defeated by the wind of all things.

"I don't get why we don't just go to your tutor, Eren."

"I told you, I'm avoiding my tutor teacher. I really don't want to go to year 13 camp so I'm putting off handing my slip in and shit." A half-truth, at least. He hadn't handed in his slip, but that wasn't why he was avoiding tutor. No, he was avoiding it because he didn't want to see Jean's stupid face, or anyone else's for that matter. 

Ever since he'd heard about the rumour and realised everyone had known about it, Eren gradually began to pull away from them. Of course, not fully so that they'd notice, but just enough so that they would all be spared the awkwardness of not completely knowing how they should act. Ern had told them all a million times nothing was going on between him and Levi, but a million times they all gave him unconvincing nods of their heads. So, the unfortunate repercussion to this was that Eren had to spend all of his time outside, seeing that Levi was too much of a stubborn ass to just go into his tutor class in the shit weather. Eren looked over to Erwin, trying not to laugh as he watched his friend get pelted again and again by the wind.

Unlike Eren's other friends, Erwin hadn't been treating Eren any differently, and had also acted the same towards Levi. Either he hadn't heard about the rumours or he had but didn't give two shits, and either way, Eren didn't care. At least someone was treating him normally. Loud footsteps heading towards them caused Eren to peep around the umbrella, squinting to see who it was. The rain had finally started to die down a bit, but the wind was still being a nuisance.

Levi and Hanji approached them, Hanji having a jolly good time as she took every opportunity she could to soak Levi's shoes and pants each time they passed a puddle. Hanji had no umbrella of course, and it would be a miracle if she didn't get a cold from it despite her layers of clothing. Levi had a small black umbrella, fitting his personality with both the colour and the fact it was so small only he himself could fit under it. Last time Eren had tried to weasel his way in, Levi had nearly accidentally shoved Eren into a particularly muddy looking puddle. Well, at least Levi had claimed it was an accident. 

His smirk suggested otherwise. 

"Shove over, brat," Levi said over the pounding rain, already beginning to push Eren over on the seat to make way for him. Eren grumbled some nonsenical insults- those of which Levi either didn't hear over the weather or he simply chose to ignore. 

Levi had been acting mostly the same since he'd found out about the rumours, the rumours that were still swirling around not only their own school, but at the girls' school as well. It was doing Eren's head in. Levi hadn't distanced himself from Eren, hadn't stopped sitting with him or going on out of school adventures with him as he feared he would do. No, the only difference was that Levi was dishing out a lot more glares around school to strangers who looked too closely their way. Levi hadn't brought up the rumours, and as long as he wasn't saying a word about it neither was Eren. Afterall, it really wasn't somehting they needed to talk about. There were some stupid rumours going on about them, big deal. As long as they didn't react, they'd die down within a couple of weeks, two if they were lucky. 

"Have a good trip?" Eren smirked, taking note of Levi's sodden clothes.

"Bitch-ass wind decided that my umbrella wasn't enough to keep the wind away." Levi huffed, moving his bag out of the range of the rain. 

"What'd you get?"

"Take a wild guess." Levi was too busy with adjusting the umbrella that he didn't notice Eren taking a peak at the food Levi had bought from the canteen.

"Let me guess, something warm?"

"Aw nah, it's a fucking ice block."

"Fuck you man." Eren laughed. "Toasties?"

"Try again."

"Ahhhmm... a pie?"

"You bet!" Hanji sang, hopping on the spot in the rain. Levi's state was nothing compared to hers, as Hanji's hair could have been seen as pitch black due to it having absorbed so much moisture, and her uniform wasn't faring much better. The worst part though was her glasses, droplets decorating the thick pieces of glass. It was a wonder she could still see through them. 

Assuming she could.

At that moment Hanji's phone buzzed in her pocket, just loud enough to be heard over the pitter pattring rain on the cheap material of the classroom's roof. 

"Ah, crap. Armin says we've got a SCAT meeting." She pouted, sticking her phone out right into the rain to show her friends. 

"Hanji! You're gonna wreck your phone!" Eren yelped, already moving to cover the device with his umbrella. 

"I'm sure it'll be fine. But, you know, I don't want to walk all the way over to A block in this weather."

"You were literally just dancing around in the rain a few seconds ago." Levi said flatly, not a hint of sympathy or remorse on his face or in his voice.

"Yeah, but that was then and this is now. Leeeviiii can you please be quite the gentleman and escort me? I'll give you ten cents!"

"Fuck off shitty glasses, there is no way I'm going back out in  _this_." Levi gestureed vaguely around them, clearly showing he was wet enough as it was. Hanji then turned herr attention to Eren, a plead already forming on her lips.

"Sorry Hanji, no can do. Afterall, I have some serious tastebud judging to do." Eren elbowed Levi in the ribs, a smirk making it's way onto his face. Levi didn't share the same amusement at the jab. Hanji turned one last final time to look at Erwin, a pout already set in place. The two looked at each other for a moment, Hanji's face sad and Erwin's with stern narrowed eyes. In the end it appeared that Hanji had won, for Erwin rolled his eyes with a sigh, and stood. 

"Alright, fine. I'll be back in a couple of minutes." Erwin grumbled, reaching for his umbrella. 

"Ah, you're such a babe." Hanji hummed, already beginning to lead the way. Erwin didn't bother with goodbyes, merely stalked off after Hanji in pursuit. Eren let out a low chuckle, adjusting his umbrella once more. Silence settled over the two boys remaining, the both of them allowing the rain and the wind to drown out any other sounds. Nothing needed to be said, the company of the other was as good as any conversation. Eren did however cast a sideglance at Levi, his face set in a stone cold expression of ever-lasting boredom. So, the usual.

Despite this feature, and what was more likely to be a habit more than anything, Eren coulnd't help but find Levi's appreance rather alluring. Just the shape and curve of his nose, the way his chin pointed inwards slightly, the perfection of his eyebrows. Everything just seemed to fit so perfectly, so seamlessly together on his face. 

Just as these kind of thoughts had seemed to find their way, so perfectly, so seamlessly into Eren's train of thought. 

It had been happening a lot, random thoughts about Levi and his appearance and his personality, his traits and his habits and the words in which he chose to speak with. And Eren coulnd't help but wonder what it was like to date the raven-haired boy.

He wasn't perfect by any means, he was at least a little bit of a dickhead, perhaps even more so. He had weird tastes in food, he could always come up with obscure and obscene nicknames that weren't always that pleasant, could roll lies off his tongue without a second thought. 

But there were the good things, too. How his humour matched Eren's perfectly, no matter how shitty or dark it was. He was caring in a way that only he would show it, he'd go out of his way to do little things. And above all else, it seemed, he was rather loyal. 

It wasn't that Eren wanted to actually  _date_ the guy, oh no. It was just a constant wondering, a quesiton in the back of his mind. If we was failing maths how on Earth could be possibly not fail at a relationship? Not to mention the whole thing of actually being gay- that was a whole new thing he wasn't sure he was ready or even wanted to deal with yet. If ever, of course. 

So Eren let himself wonder these things before silently putting them into the backs of his mind, not giving them a second thought. He could open them up and look another day, if he so wished. 

Eren's eyes drifted to the steam that was rising from Levi's small paper bag, and was suddenly hyper aware of the cold and how there was a source of warmth  _right there..._

Levi had seemed to notice Eren's sensitivity too, as he flicked his eyes between Eren and the pie that was currently warming his hands. 

"Instead of looking like a starved orphan, just take a bite. I'm surprised you haven't surged forward by now." Levi said with a roll of his eyes. Eren snapped out of his trance, giving Levi a sheepish grin.

"You sure?"

"Of course I'm sure, idiot. I wouldn't have offered it otherwise." Not giving Levi time to change his mind, Eren leaned forward and took a bite. God, it was good. Not just the flavour but the absoloute  _warmth_ of it as it went down straight into his stomach, travelling down his frozen throat. 

"So, Eren... Have you heard about the... stuff, going on around about us?" Eren's eyes made contact with Levi's, and suddenly he wasn't so warm anymore. 

So, it was something Levi wanted to address afterall.

"Oh, umm... yeah, yeah I have." Eren coughed awkwardly, not quite sure what to do with the food in his mouth. He felt as if the food would fall right out of him if he swallowed it, as his stomach had just dropped out from under him.

"Right."

"But," Eren said, shrugging his shoulders and forcng himself to swallow. "I'm not really bothered by it. I mean, it's not true is it? So there's nothing to worry about." Eren held his breath for a heartbeat, waiting for Levi's reply. Said male nodded his head thoughtfully, taking a bite of the pie.  _Great, what a reply._ Unsatisfied, Eren debated asking Levi what his take on the whole sitution was. Was he mad, frustrated, upset? Or perhaps he didn't care at all. No matter what the answer was, Eren just wanted to know what it was.

"What do you think about it?" He tried to keep the nervousness out of his voice, to sound as casual as he could. But it was difficult in the slightest when it was on a topic of people thinking you were screwing with your new best friend. "You know, especially since we're both guys. Not that that matters, of course." Levi slid his eyes up to Eren's, his eyebrows smoothed out from their usual creased positions. 

"Well, like you said, it's not true. So nothing to worry about, I guess? I don't know, it's just not something that really bothers me in the first place. Besides, it'd be kinda fucking homophobic wouldn't it? To care that it was about me and another guy. There's nothing wrong with being gay so I really couldn't care less about what others think." Eren pretended to fiddle with his umbrella as he thought of a reply. 

Eren knew a lot about Levi, possibly more than a lot of the friends he had priar to meeting the broody male. He knew his favourite foods, his favourite spots in his house around the town and even in the school they were currently sitting in. He knew how Levi dealt with his younger sister when she was annoying him, knew his list of previously thought up excuses for all sorts of situations and even how he went about replying to people's texts messages and calls. But he'd never once asked about his sexuality, never once wondered or felt the need to know. Eren felt slightly ashamed that he now felt that need to know.

"Hey, uh, not that I care or anything at all like I don't even know about myself in this feild but um- are you... are you gay? At all?" Levi let out a low laugh that was even loud enough to be heard over the wind but didn't give Eren a verbal response. Eren sat there rather confused, not understanding what was going on. Had he accidentally offended him somehow?

"Levi-"

"Eren," Levi held up a hand to silence Eren. "Who cares if I like sucking dick or not? It doesn't matter what way I swing." Eren nodded, his face burning slightly despite the cold weather. He wouldn't ask again, he could take a hint at least.

"Hey, did you get your grade back for English?" Levi asked, going on as if their previous conversation hadn't even occurred in the first place.

"Oh, um- No, no we get them back next week. Monday I think." Levi nodded his head again, turning his attention fully back to his food. Eren released a breath, letting any worries or tensions slow out through that one release of air. Levi didn't care, he didn't care, probably no one cared. Everything was going to be fine, and their friendship wasn't in any danger. Eren continued looking out into the rain, and as it continued to soak his hair and shirt, he wondered why he even bothered putting up his umbrella at all.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"So then the G and the C go together, and the A and the T go together. We learnt all of this stuff last year- Eren are you even listening?" Sasha frowned, looking at Eren sternly through the small web camera. 

"Yeah yeah, I'm listening. This is just so fucking confusing" Eren groaned, letting his head loll to the side. His friend had been trying her best to explain mutation to his for the past half an hour to no avail, as Eren just couldn't seem to wrap his head around it.

"Good, so the G and C-"

"But  _why_ do the G and C go together? Why not the G and T? Or the C and C? Or any other combination!"

"Because that's just not how it works. You know, sometimes you've just gotta stop asking the how and just accept that that's the way it is." Sasha laughed, her patience never ending. If Eren didn't know any better, he would have thought Sasha was finding the whole ordeal amusing. 

"You know what, how about instead of this bullshit we talk about something that actually matters- the injustice that I'm going to have to do the dishes when Mikasa was supposed to be on dishes duty tonight but decided that she's gonna go out and hang out with her new friends from Sina, or whatever the name of their school is."

"Eren your squabbles with your sister isn't going to pass your classes" Sasha grinned, wordlessly agreeing with Eren that it was hopeless to try and tutot him this late over video chatting. It was worth a shit, though, he supposed.

"I just can't believe she did that. I mean, how did she even meet those people she's with? What are their names? Crystal and... yummy?" Sasha let out a bark of laughter.

"It's Christa and Ymir, silly. And I don't know but I have heard that the guys who go there are SUPER hot."

"Don't let Connie catch you saying that, or he'll have a fit."

"Connie can go suck a dick." Sasha poked out her tongue to top it all off, causing Eren to let out a snort.

"How are you two, by the way?"

"Good, I guess. We're going on a date next week so we'll see how that goes. Hopefully, there'll be a handsome fella I can go run off with so I don't have to pay for my feast." Sasha laughed at her own joke, shaking her head as if to pass off what she'd just said as an inside joke with herself. 

Usually, Eren wouldn't think twice about half the shit Sasha said and talked about, in fact a lot of it was just in the moment shit that she burst out without a second thought. Tonight, however, Eren couldn't stop thinking about how often she had been calling guys out for their adorning looks. Sasha had always made jokes about Eren going up to guys who she deemed as attractive- seeing as Eren had never really shown any particular interest in girls. Tonight was also the night, it seemed, where Eren realised that a few of them actually weren't that bad looking, were rather... attractive. And Eren was nothing short of slightly terrified when the thought that none of their looks compared to Levi's crossed his mind.

"Hey Sasha, do you think I'm gay?"

Sasha's laughter died down, and her face was left with a small confused smile that could easily be mistaken for a grimace or even a frown. 

"Where's this coming from? You know that I'm always joking about making you ask guys out, right? I don't know what your sexuality is, and it's none of my business unless you make it my business. Why, is it something you want to talk about?"

"Not really, no, I guess not." Eren shook his shoulders dismissively, already regretting his question.

"Eren, do you think you might be gay?" Sasha asked softly, not at all unkindly.

"No, no I was just wondering about what you thought. You can have some wild thoughts sometimes." Eren smiled, though it felt a little forced.

"Eren, you can talk to me about anything you know. I'm always here for you."

"I know, I know. Seriously, don't worry about it. I was just wondering."

'Alright, if you say so." Their conversation carried on for some time before Mikasa walked through the door, a smile on her face as she told Eren that dinner was ready. With a quick heartfelt goodbye, Eren ended the call and made his way down the stairs with his sister. Mikasa already had their plates set out on the kitchen bench, and Eren began to dish out and plate up her portion. Eren began doing the same, debating whether Mikasa would hit him or not for taking that too-good looking potato from her plate that she had snatched seconds before him. 

"Hey, Eren, if there anything you want to tell me? Talk to me about?"

"Nope." God, if she would just turn away to get some water or something then he could just snag it-

"Are you sure?"

"Yup" It was almost as if it shone in the light, a god on the face of not the Earth, but the plate. 

"Alright then. But if you ever change your- hey!" She slapped Eren's lingering hand. "My potato." She playfully snapped, picking up her plate and walking over to the table. Eren laughed, though he was definitely in lower spirits that he'd never get to hear that crunch of that particular potato. Eren followed his sister, and almost in sync they placed and sat their plates on the table, and their bodies dropped into their chairs. Dinner went on as usual, their parents asking about their days and talking about their own. Ere felt nothing short of privilege, as he knew this wasn't a usual setting. Connie's family all sat in different places around the house, and in Sasha's house, they just made and ate dinner whenever they felt like it, very rarely ever sharing a meal.

"Your mother and I are going out tomorrow night for a work outing, obligatory, unfortunately," Grisha said with a slight smile. "We won't be home until late."

"That's okay, I was planning on staying the night at Sasha's tomorrow. I really want her to meet Ymir and Krista, so we're having a girls night."

"Aw, that sounds lovely. Much better than a dumb work-do." Carla smiled, leaning over to hold her daughter's hand briefly. 

"This sucks, you're telling me I'm gonna be alone tomorrow?" Eren huffed, pushing around the potatoes on his plate. They paled in comparison to Mikasa's god potato.

"You're just about a grown man now, I'm sure you can handle it," Carla said, a playful smile dancing on her lips.

"Mother, I am a social creature and I need my people to socialise with."

"Alright then, why don't you have a friend over then? Armin or someone. Sound good?"

"Sounds fantastic. Thank you." Eren beamed.

"You're such a baby." Mikasa rolled her eyes, raising from her seat to go grab some water. As soon as she was out of sight, Eren's fork was steady in his hand as he set out for that golden glory just one plate away from his own. 


	24. Cosy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren invites both Armin and Levi over, however, both are busy.  
> Which is why Eren gets very confused and very scared when the doorbell rings at 8 o'clock when he's home alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Help I have an obsession with Billy Raffoul and Jon Bellion, they were all I listened to while writing this chapter-
> 
> I really enjoyed writing this chapter haha. When I read fanfics I love it when it's all fluffy and shit so this was a very self-indulgent chapter. Hope you like it and it isn't boring!  
> I guess it's plot-important?
> 
> Thank you for all your support, have joy in the fact that I squeal every time I read your comments. Y'all are too kind. Anyways, hope you enjoy!!

"FUCK!" Eren swerved to the right, his Luigi on the screen swerving out of the way as a massive mushroom man zipped past.

"Shut up or mum'll hear you," Mikasa said through gritted teeth, concentration on high. 

"Next time you almost get run over by a giant fucking mushroom, don't come crying to me."

"Unlike someone, I'm rather good at avoiding things. You know, considering I'm a restricted licensed driver."

"Mikasa, you gods-damned-" Eren cut off his curse as he heard his mother walking down the stairs. Mikasa smiled triumphantly beside him. He'd get her back later. 

Outside the wind howled and the rain pitter-pattered lightly on the window, creating a cosy atmosphere Eren loved oh so much. There was nothing better than playing Mario Kart with Mikasa on a stormy day in his eyes.

It was the last lap, and Eren was determined to win the race. He was losing sorely, Mikasa having come first for the past two races while Eren had one the first. Neither of the two had done so well on the second. He was currently in first, managing to pass Bowser and Toad. Just a few more seconds, just half a lap to go and he could win-

Until all his dreams shattered as a blue shell hit him. Then a red shell.

Just his luck.

If it weren't for his mother loitering in the background, Eren would have cursed so colourfully he could have created a rainbow. Instead, he turned his rage into strength to press down on the A button, doing his best to propel his character further along the track. To his utter dismay multiple characters raced past him, including Mikasa in the lead. She dropped her remote encased in the plastic wheel as she soared over the finish time, first place flashing up n her screen. She leaned back, watching Eren finish the race in eighth place with a smile of satisfaction. Eren sat with silent race, debating turning off the Wii as he had done when they were kids. Though, Mikasa was also guilty of falling into the same fit of rage.

"A re-match," Eren demanded, already exiting out of the screen to return to the main menu.

"It's gonna have to wait sorry, dear brother. I've got a bus to catch if I want to get to Sasha's on time."

"Are you sure you don't want me to drop you off? I don't mind." Carla called from the kitchen, just out of sight.

"No, it's fine. The bus is especially nice on rainy days." Eren couldn't agree more.  Their mother mumbles a brief okay, expressing about how she didn't want Mikasa to come down with a cold. Mikasa disappeared up the stairs after reassuring her mother that she would return in one, healthy piece. 

"Are you still having someone over?" Carla asked, peeking ahead around the corner to look at Eren, sprawled on the floor.

"Ah crap, I forgot to ask."

"Well do it now before you forget." Eren obeyed, quickly sending an invitation to Armin to come over. He had no idea what the boy was up to and cared t know, as he had been actively avoiding the blonde. He missed him though, so he really didn't mind breaking the silence that had stretched out between them. 

"Bye mum,  bye Eren," Mikasa said as she hurried down the stairs, a bag in hand. Eren and his mother called out their farewells, and Eren watched as she disappeared out the front door without a glance back. As if on cue Eren's phone buzzed.

_Hey sorry Eren, I'm at a SCAT event that I can't bail on. Sorry. I'll save you some of these pastries though, they're so good._

Of course he was busy, and Eren couldn't help the pit drop in his stomach. At least Armin had a legit reason- once Marco felt bad about not wanting to come over and made up an elaborate excuse. Not that Eren had been upset about it, if anything he found the boy's anxiousness about the whole thing amusing. 

_All goods, I'll just eat all this popcorn by myself._

_You're a cruel man, Eren._

Eren couldn't help the chuckle that erupted from his chest, and put his phone away. So, alone he would be. That was okay, maybe he could entertain himself with a stupid movie, god knows what kind of movies Connie had at his disposal for recommendations. Eren was about to message said boy when an idea struck him. Eren dug his phone out again, already searching for Levi's contact.

"Hey mum, can I have Levi over?"

"Sure- but what happened to Armin? Did you guys have a fight?"

"Nah, he's at a SCAT thing."

"Oh, okay. You should have joined SCAT, it would look great on your resume." Everything that Eren wasn't a part of would look good on his resume, according to his mum. 

"Yeah, right. Anyways, is that a yes?"

"I guess so. Is Levi the one who is, as you like to call him, death incarnate?" Eren grinned at his mother's remembrance of the description Eren came up with. It was absolutely brilliant, if he did say so himself. 

_Hey, I've caught a particular bad habit from you. Wanna hanng out tonijt last minut? You'd stay the night._

As expected, though it didn't annoy him any less, Levi took half an hour to reply.  _The bastard._

_Fix your typos, brat. That sounds great but I'm with Erwin for the rest of the day, and I don't want to leave Izzy and Farlan alone all day and night._

Oh. Eren's heart and face fell at the rejection. He sent a quick reply and let himself fall back to the floor. So both of his best friends were busy. Typical. Eren debated asking Connie, or even Marco, but he really wasn't up for either boy's company. Not that he didn't enjoy spending time with them, but Connie was too Connie and Marco just was too... well, Marco. Knowing that his parents would probably offer to bring Eren along, or ask why he didn't just invite someone else over, Eren opted to say nothing about both Armin and Levi not coming. Not yet, anyway. Besides, being alone wasn't so bad.

It was only one night, afterall.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Don't cause too much trouble while we're gone, okay?"

"And no parties." Grisha teased over Carla's shoulder, watching as she kissed her son gingerly on the cheek. 

"I don't have enough friends for a party." Eren joked back, hugging his mother. 

"Alright, we'll see you later then. Don't forget to close your curtains, either."

"Stop fussing, mum. I'll be fine, you said so yourself. Have fun."

"Alright, alright." She left the house along with her husband, sending one last kiss to Eren who was sprawled on the couch, watching as they disappeared into the night beyond. Eren sighed as he heard the car pull out of the driveway, and flicked on the T.V.

He didn't watch T.V an awful lot lately, now that he had social media to entertain him. And homework to bore him. And friends to do both of those things. 

He flicked through the channels, not directing much attention to it at all. It most mostly background noise, and he figured he'd stop if he found something familiar. Maybe he'd just go to bed early if there was nothing interesting on. Maybe he'd video chat with someone, or bug Mikasa with texts. Just as Eren was about to give up, the doorbell rang, the sound echoing through Eren's bones.

He froze, turning off the T.V immediately. Who in their right mind would be ringing the doorbell at this time of night? Maybe it was the universe sending a murderer to end his boredom. Though he joked and played with the idea, he really hoped and prayed to whatever God that whoever was at the door wasn't there for his life. Eren managed to ease himself off the couch, each step lighter than the last. He reached the door, and with one quickly drawn in breath, opened the door. His eyebrows knitted together, eyes narrowing at the sight before him. 

Whoever it was at the door was short, shorter than Eren though not by too much. His size was increased however, a massive coat hugging his body that looked nothing short of a drug dealers attire. The only reason it didn't appear to be so was the fact rain droplets were sitting undisturbed on the material- a rain jacket, not a drug dealing jacket. Eren looked past the stranger- a male, he supposed, as their body structure and stance would suggest, to see a car parked just outside of his driveway. But, not just any car. A familiar car.

Levi's car.

The panic slowly ebbed away, leaving Eren with nothing but an amused smirk on his face and confusion coiling in his gut. Eren said nothing, just surveyed his friend trying to figure out what the hell was happening. Who just showed up at someone's doorstep looking like a dodgy fella in the fucking rain? Apparently, Levi didn't feel the need to say anything either for a good couple of minutes. They stood there, the rain falling behind them comfortably.

"Well," He huffed, "Are you gonna let me in or not?" The jacket looked far too big for him. Why the hell hadn't he gone with a smaller one? Surely there was a rain jacket his size, and if not the children's section would be sure to provide one. Eren's lips tugged up at the thought of Levi shopping in the children's section, of all places.

Eren wordlessly stepped back into the house, giving Levi enough room to enter the house without brushing up against Eren. He wasn't particularly in the mood to get his nightshirt wet. Levi trudged into the house, shoes soaking as he took them off and pushed them off to the side. Well, at least he had manners. Eren closed the door behind him, and could only stare in disbelief, a laugh on his lips at the sight he beheld.

Levi had managed to waddle his way over to the couch Eren had spent the past hour lounging on, and the sound of rustling filled the room. Bag after bag of chips and lollies and chocolates poured out of the jacket, looking as if they had come directly from the pits of Levi's stomach. After what felt like an eternity of rustles and shaking of his coat, Levi turned around to face Eren, the jacket still being bulky on the short raven-haired boy but significantly less... packed, as it were.

"Levi. What the fuck" Eren laughed, making his way over to his friend. Eren began rummaging through the packagings, sorting through the salt and vinegar chips and roses and favourites and Hershey's, there were even some bags of substances he'd never even heard of or seen before. Eren could only turn to Levi, mouth agape and eyebrows raised. 

"Well it's a rainy night and I don't know what you do on rainy nights, or you know, just normal hangouts at night. So, I took it upon myself to just come prepared. For example, Erwin hates having snacks because it's too much of a mess to clean up, and he doesn't particularly even like them. Hanji, on the other hand, will throw an absolute fit if you show up empty-handed. I didn't have enough time to ask either, so I just grabbed whatever." Eren couldn't decide whether Levi was rambling or not. He continued to shake his head, a smile ever-growing on his lips. 

"Levi- oh my god,  _Levi._ "

"So, are you a movie watching man or are we playing board games all night? You really didn't give me any warning on what we'd be doing."

" _I_ didn't give you any warning? Levi, you didn't even tell me you were coming!" Eren laughed, looking at his friend in that continued disbelief.  Levi grinned at Eren, a sight that Eren felt hard to tear his eyes away from.

"So? What are we doing?"

"A movie night sounds great. I mean, we may as well with all these snacks, right?" Eren began sorting the snacks into piles when he noticed the popcorn packet poking out.  Eren grabbed it and made his way over to the kitchen, already tearing open the packaging. 

"So, what changed your mind?" Eren called, pressing in the time on the microwave. 

"Mum came home early, so I didn't have to worry about Isabel and Farlan being alone. And Erwin was being a pain in my ass about it, too. Said I should feel honoured that you asked me to hang out."

"Did he really say that?" Eren snorted.

"No, but he mas-well have." Eren couldn't help the smile that took over his face when he heard Levi tugging a bag open.  _Impatient fuck. Although I suppose he did bring them._

"You all goods with pizza for dinner? Or have you already eaten?"

"I was half expecting you to not offer me anything, you always continue to pleasantly surprise me Eren."

"Oh please, you'll never find a better host than me." Eren walked out of the kitchen, leaning over the couch as Levi continued to nibble away at a twistie. He leaned in farther than he'd expected to, coming a lot closer to Levi than he'd anticipated, too. Eren tried his best to ignore the way his cheekbones stuck out sharply, highlighting the colour of his eyes somehow.  _Stop it,_ _possibly-homo thoughts. Not now._

"I'd beg to differ." Levi snorted, not even acknowledging their closeness.

"Uh, rude. If you want you can start looking for movies on my laptop while I make dinner. There's an HDMI cord by the T.V somewhere."

"Where's your laptop?" Levi dusted off his fingers. His long, delicate piano fingers. 

"Just upstairs in my room, on the desk." Eren pulled away, pretending he hadn't just had a couple of thoughts Levi would not be so thrilled to know about. 

"Alright." Eren heard rather than saw Levi make his way up the stairs.

Maybe it would have been better to not invite Levi around, if his brain was going to carry on like this. 

The nervous thoughts quickly left his mind, the negatives of having Levi in his house-  _alone_ with him, _Christ_ \- once Eren began making the pizzas. Back and forth he shouted to Levi asking what he wanted, and multiple times Levi had sauntered sin saying he could just make his own. They'd had a little wrestle, Levi trying his best to brain past Eren's defence into the kitchen. Eren's sheer size over Levi won though, and Levi retreated back to the lounge, huffing as he dropped back on the sofa.

Eren's lips tugged upwards and stayed there no matter how hard Eren tried to bring the corners back down. He started shifting his weight from one foot to the other, and couldn't stop the giddy feeling that spread throughout his body. Excited, that was what he was. Excited to watch a movie with his friend, eating themselves silly. It'd be a miracle if they weren't throwing up by the end of the night. 

"So what did you pick?" Eren asked, walking to talk to Levi directly. Said boy turned around, a shit eating grin on his face as he gestured to the T.V. Eren laughed slowly. Megamind. He'd chosen Megamind. Eren didn't argue and didn't question either.  _Megamind it is, then._

"Do you want to wait until the pizzas are done first or do you want to start now?"

"I say we wait. I can't be fucked getting up during the movie to get them.

"Sure," Eren said, smiling. He tried not to think of Levi's words too literally.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eren winced as his elbow slipped, sending his shoulder smack into to arm of the couch. Eren pulled the blanket up higher, to soften to landing should it happen again. Eren took a quick glance at the rest of the banket, as well as the other seven Eren and Levi were currently nestled under. The pillows were just as plentiful. Eren straightened his back, fearing that if we weren't careful he'd have one hell of a sore neck the next day. Levi had chosen a smarter position, elbow generously lounging on the other arm of the couch while the rest of him spread out along the entirety of the couch that Eren wasn't currently occupying. 

"Why do you think they decided to make him blue?" Levi asked, eyes narrowed on the screen. Eren shrugged.

"I dunno, Maybe they got sick of green aliens."

"Maybe." Levi began rustling from beside Eren, and the brunette looked over curiously. Carefully rearranging the blankets, turned around and scooted closer to Eren, a hand already reaching out. 

To dig into the bag of chips in Eren's hand. 

Levi's weight pushed into Eren, the shorter male's head just inches away from Eren chin. His lips. It was a good thing, Eren thought, that the lighting was so dim Levi wouldn't catch the slight blush dusted on his cheeks. Levi pulled away slightly, Eren's breath calming and heart dropping. Then, they did the opposite when Levi took the spot on Eren's side to lean into. Levi sent Eren a look as if to say,  _for the food_. Eren took a deep breath however, and let it go. He wanted to be close to the food, who cared? Anyone would have done the same thing. Hell, Connie would have kissed Eren on the cheek to get to it.

He couldn't figure it out, couldn't understand why his heart was beating so fast tonight or why it was more of a mission to hide his face from Levi's piercing gaze. Why he needed to. Levi was a friend, an extremely attractive friend. A friend who there were rumours about, to do with himself. But more importantly, a friend he didn't want to lose. Someone who somehow suddenly meant a lot to him. So Eren pushed down the lurches in his chest, in his heart, willed the burning on his face to cool and his heart to beat at a normal pace. 

"You know, I never understood why he had a room with a disco ball and crocodiles. Like, seriously, what did that guy do in his spare time?" Levi snorted in reply, his weight pressing further into Eren's side. 

"So judgemental, aren't you Eren?"

"Only where a blue alien with a questionable room is concerned." Eren flashed a grin and shifted slightly to get more comfortable. He then took the risk to open an arm, beckoning for Levi to lean into him, rather than on him. For comfort, of course. An eyebrow raised, Levi let himself fall into the embrace. Eren looked casually to the T.V, hoping that Levi was doing the same. Cuddling, they were cuddling. 

Eren had never cuddled someone before, not like this anyway. 

The two boys continued on with their cuddling and eating, and though Eren knew he really should stop, he couldn't help but pluck the lollies that were unwrapped in Levi's hands. He was sure he'd have an array of bruises, from how many times Levi elbowed and poked him to exact his revenge.

"Brat," Levi muttered, throwing the latest victim's wrapper at Eren. Levi turned back to the T.V, becoming re-interested in the movie. Eren couldn't bring himself to turn his head, his attention instead being fully fixated on the male just under him. God, what the hell was wrong with him? 

Levi's head was angled ever so slightly, ever so slightly showcasing his jawline that even the darkness couldn't hide. It took everything Eren had to not graze it, to cup his cheeks and brush across his lips. Levi's hair tickled Eren's nose slightly, so the brunette moved it out of the way and holy  _gods_ was it soft. If only he could just brush his lips on the top of his head, could run his own fingers through that flawless black undercut.

Well, it would appear Eren wasn't straight at all, appear that his gay had been hiding away all these years in hibernation if he was having thoughts like _this_. Why now, of all times, did it decide to awaken? And why did  _Levi,_ of all people have to be the one who set it all off? What unnerved Eren even more was that there were rumours about the two being together, in some shape or form. Eren mentally jolted when he realised that, well,

He didn't mind the rumours as much as he should have.

He'd already noted that he didn't mind, it didn't matter as long as Levi was still willing to carry on as normal, but just this feeling of... this feeling that he really didn't mind.

The feeling that he wished the rumours were true. That they were truly seeing each other in a more intimate way. Levi's eyes flickered up to Eren then, a questioning in his face that made Eren suck in a sharp breath. Levi was caring, in a sense that he would do little things to show but if you ever asked he'd deny it. He was funny, could send you just one facial expression and you'd lose your breath to the gift of laughter.

He wished that they did this regularly, shared each other's heat beneath blankets while alone together. He wished that those unfairly perfect lips pressed against his own, wished that Levi's weight on him was as familiar as breathing, wished that holding him was as easy as the breaths he was taking and releasing as Levi looked at him, those storm eyes pinning him in that moment.

Except it wasn't easy to breathe then, and Eren tried to calm his rapidly beating heart as he prayed Levi didn't feel it. The movie did well enough to block out any other sounds, but all Eren could hear was the thumping of his heart threatening to leap out through his ribcage, mixed with Levi's too-even breathing. 

Something flashed in Levi's eyes, and whatever it was caused him to move his head ever so slightly, just as the action looked ever so slightly like an invitation. His head wasn't titled, but his lips were pointed up slightly, as if we were going to whisper something in Eren's ear.

He was gentle when they wrestled for dominance over something, knowing that Eren lacked any sort of fighting experience and only had his height to defend himself. He was gentle in the way he treated his siblings, sacrificing his time and possessions to make them smile. He insulted his friends who would insult him back, knowing that they were secure enough that the hurtful words were never meant to make their mark.

Eren swallowed thickly, suddenly not having enough oxygen to feed his starving lungs. Levi continued looking up at the brunette, the same sort of longing dwelling in the space between them. Eren wanted to kiss him, wanted to wrap his hands around his waist and sit the male in his lap, to taste his lips and his mouth and his skin and feel nothing but thrill and pleasure and-

And then Levi smiled, a smile that was threaded with either flirtatious intent or tiredness Eren couldn't tell, before letting his head drop against Eren's thudding chest once more. Eren continued looking at Levi, shock sinking into his bones and hints of embarrassment settling over his chest. They were so close, if he'd just-

Levi let out a loud bark of laughter, nestling into Eren's shoulder. Snapped out of his panicked daze, Eren too turned back to the T.V, feigning amusement from the scene. The screen was more of a blue now than anything. Eren fought the thoughts circling mercilessly around in his mind, and he laid he head atop of Levi's. Eren pinched his arm, the action hidden beneath the covers and concealed behind a wince.

He was just letting everything get to his head, the rumours, his possibly not so straight sexuality, the romantics of a movie night home alone... it had to just be getting to his head. All of it. Afterall, it'd be a bit odd that just after rumours about them reached their attention, Eren developed feelings for his friend. He was hormonal as well, which could very well be playing a factor in the whole ordeal. All of those thoughts, those feelings, they had to be due to everything else. Levi was a friend, and a friend he didn't want to lose.  _I'm allowed a few stupid hormonal thoughts. I'm a teenager._

Soon after, the movie ended, Levi sighing as he expressed how much he loved the movie and Eren snorting in reply. Levi sorted out the couch and the T.V while Eren handled the popcorn scattered on the floor- courtesy of the small popcorn fight he and Levi had- the rubbish and their pizza dishes. They then agreed to just get some sleep- neither being in the mood to wake up feeling like the dead the next day. 

They headed up the stairs to Eren's room, where said boy excused himself to go use the bathroom. He came back to the room after a minute, his breath catching short when the sight of Levi's bare back greeted him. Eren watched as Levi skillfully pulled his shirt on, surprised when there was no blush to cover his face. 

Alright, so maybe his homo thoughts weren't tied to his hormonal ones. Maybe he really was just realising them for the first time. He'd seen plenty of his girl-friends change, bare skin showing and all, but it had never fazed Eren in any way. It was just skin, nothing special. But seeing  _Levi's_ skin, that had certainly done something to Eren. That certainly wasn't just skin.

The blush could not be held at bay as it made its way onto Eren's face, hidden mercifully by the darkness of the room, as he climbed into bed beside Levi. They'd agreed to just share Eren's bed, not being bothered to dredge up the mattress downstairs and set up the bedding. Besides, for two male friends, it was completely normal, completely fine to be sharing a bed. 

"Goodnight Levi," Eren said, turning the other way.

"Goodnight Eren," Levi mumbled out, appearing to almost be completely knocked out already. Eren wished he could say the same, as he was almost the complete opposite.

If anyone knew that Levi came over that night, if anyone knew they were in the same bed together, hell would break loose. People would make assumptions, talk about how they'd do 'sinister things together'.

Eren closed his eyes, trying to NOT think about the thoughts he was having about Levi brewing in the back of his mind. He willed sleep to swiftly come and claim him, but all he could see on the backs of his eyes were Levi's lips, so close to his own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Megamind is a great movie, try to change my mind.


	25. King Eren

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren's a King for a brief moment, he gets to witness Levi Erwin and Hanji's tutor for the first time. And Levi likes to play with fire.
> 
> An already smouldering fire. And Eren decides to jump right in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey so a lot of things to say, but I'll try to make it quick. (Or you could skip to my summary at the end bc I talk too much)
> 
> First, the response from the last chapter just broke my damn heart?? You're all so wonderful and I really appreciate it and I know I say this like every chapter but lol you're all so wonderful. I wasn't gonna post this out of fear it was gonna be shit but I'm glad I did. Unless this all goes to shit, in that case then we'll see.
> 
> Speaking of things going to shit, one of my closest family members is due to pass away any day now. He's ready to go now, had a good life and everything but it's still really sad for me. Having this be my first family member I'm close to passing away and it being my first funeral and such, having exams, having NaNo on, having my friends returning to Japan at the end of the month and amongst other stuff, I'm not sure how well I'll be coping with everything at the moment. So it may be a while until I update. I'll still be writing bc there's no way in hell I'm losing NaNo, but the editing and posting and shit will have to wait. Who knows, maybe I'll be fine and I'll be posting next week. I don't know, I've been swinging between okay and not okay the past few days. So yeah, if it's a little while until I update, I'm not dead or abandoning this fic I'm just rlly sad/overwhelmed.
> 
> And speaking of this fic, HAHA I'm rlly scared the plot from here on is kinda shit?? I mean I think it's all good but when I was plotting it I wasn't thinking about publishing it so I didn't think if other people would like it. Anyway bc of this I'm gonna do some tweaking of plot points and shit so it might take me a tiny bit of time to sort that out. I won't go crazy and change everything and shit, the overall plot will be the same but the bits in between need some readjusting MEANING again, chapters may be a bit slower while I figure it out.  
> Also if this chapter is shit I'm sorry, I'm not feeling it.
> 
> SHIT this was long and Idk if anyone even reads these, but that's what's going on. *Thumbs up emoji here.* Family member dying, exams, fixing plot- updates may be delayed for a bit. Not a ridiculous amount of time, but maybe a couple weeks.
> 
> Thank you, and hope you enjoy the chapter!

Eren swung the door of A block open, cursing as the weight of it nearly crushed his hand. He skipped two stairs at a time, having wasted so much time of his precious lunchtime already. Being all the way in D block due to having classics wasn't exactly ideal when he needed to retrieve his jacket from Jean in his TT. On the top of A block. Just his luck. It wasn't exactly ideal that Jean had it in the first place, either.

Eventually, Eren reached his class, throwing open the door as he paused, hands on hips, feet spread wide apart.

"Your king has arrived" He announced, strolling in the room as if he owned the place. He dropped in a seat next to Armin, and without looking at the horse next to him, held out an arm. 

"Now everyone's staring," Armin muttered, placing his face in the book that was currently clutched in his hand. 

"I'm sure they're used to it by now." He clicked his outstretched fingers. "C'mon, stallion, the jacket."

"Next time don't leave it in TT, otherwise you might not get it back. And enough with the horse jokes, please."

"And if that ever happens, I think you'll find you won't be getting a lot of things back," Eren said pointedly, smiling to himself as he felt the smooth fabric fall into his hand. "Such manners though, you've been trained well my little stallion,"

"Shut up, Jaeger."

"Hey Armin, how was your SCAT thing?" Eren looked to his blonde friend, swearing he could hear the steam coming from Jean's ears. His lips twitched in amusement.

"What?" Amrin flicked his eyes up. Eren only then noticed it was a chemistry book in his hands. 

"I said how was your SCAT thing. Better than hanging out with me?"

"Oh, don't get salty with me." Armin snorted, turning back to his book. "Um, yeah, it was good. Good food, good music, although there were a few odd people there."

"Right."

"Did you get someone else to come over in my place?"

"Oh Armin, you could never be replaced. Levi did come over though." Jean sneered rather loudly. Eren ignored him. Ignored the urge to elbow him in the ribs, too. 

"That's good." Eren narrowed his eyes at his friend.

"What kind of music was playing? Anything I would like?"

"Um, maybe? I don't know." Eren rolled his eyes, standing and grabbing his stuff. He'd seen this plenty of times, when Armin was too enthralled in his studying to have any more attention for anything or anyone else.

"Alright, I'll see you guys later then."

"Where are you going?" Jean eyed up Eren.

"I'm gonna go see Levi and shit. I know I know, you're a helpless foul without me but I'll be back soon enough."

"Well, it'll be interesting to see how much more your mood can improve after having your-"

"All I'm hearing is neighing, Jean. I'd be careful with that." Eren waved him off. It was a good thing he was facing away from Jean, a good thing Jean couldn't see the red that was beginning to build around his face at Jean's words. At what he was implying.

Eren slipped through the door, pulling his phone out as he went. He sent a quick text to Levi asking for his whereabouts, and it wasn't until Eren reached the bottom floor did his phone buzz in reply.

_We're in our tutor._

Eren frowned.

_I thought it was like, forbidden to go into your tutor class. Since you hate it so much. What happened?_

_Hanji got sick at her stupid SCAT thing over the weekend. I don't know if Armin told you about it. So, since it's cold we had no choice but to come to this shit-hole of a tutor class. You're welcome to join, if you want a sneak peek of what hell looks like._

_Aw, has your heart softened for dear old four eyes?_

Levi didn't reply.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Before Eren even set foot in the classroom, he could tell why this was not the ideal class for his three friends. Well, Levi and Erwin at least.

It seemed to be an environment where Hanji would really thrive, if he was being honest.

He thought the music was loud from  _outside_ the class, but when he opened that door and went  _inside_ he could have sworn he lost half of his hearing. He scanned the room, people everywhere with music and phones and all the sorts in their hands. It didn't take long to find his friends, crouched on a corner desk with headphones in and phones out, their fingers scrolling. Eren had to stifle his giggle when he saw Levi's face, scrunched up in contorted rage and frustration. Erwin wasn't faring much better, though it was seen in his tense posture rather than his face. Hanji was, as expected, in her element. She laughed and danced with someone Eren had never even seen before, tossing around the balls than nicked her leg or side.

It was a madhouse, wild and frantic and utterly  _alive_. Eren hadn't seen so many people in one tutor class since at least year 10- most people had dropped out after their first year of NCEA. That wasn't even the shocking part, however, as Eren recalled the fact that Erwin once mentioned his life as an extension student. This was an  _extension_ class. There had been three extension classes, Eren being in one and this being the other. The third had disbanded and gone into the other extension classes, such as Marco entering Eren's tutor class.

Erwin was the first to notice Eren, smiling and gesturing for him to come over. 

"Welcome to the circus." He said as a way of greeting.

"You mean welcome to hell." Levi snorted, putting down his phone to grimace at Eren.

"This is..." Eren looked around, speechless.

"Crazy, we know. It fucking sucks." Levi growled, tossing a glare over his shoulder that was most likely going to be discarded by whoever it was aimed at. Though, it was probably sent to the whole lot of them.

"I didn't know an extension class could be so... unruly."

"Extension?" Erwin and Levi looked at Eren as if he'd just said the sky was green.

"Yeah... you're in extension, right?"

"We were, in year nine."

"Oh. What happened?"

"Hanji was being harassed for being a girl in an all boys' school by stuck up assholes. So, we all moved tutor. Besides, when the work is easier it's hard to complain."

"Oh, shit." Eren looked down, frowning. He'd never thought Hanji's presence had been so... poorly received.

"It all ended well, she fits right in here," Erwin said, noticing the shift in atmosphere.

"She's a fucking animal," Levi muttered, and Eren's mouth twitched slightly.

Lunch went on, Eren attempting conversations with his two silent friends. It was difficult when they were just that, though. Silent. 

The sliver of silence in an atmosphere of absolute chaos. Levi and Erwin went through their phones, not even batting an eye at Eren or anything else outside the digital world. Eren turned his attention to Hanji, watching as she continued to laugh and converse with the people around her. It was refreshing, he thought. To see a group of people let everything go and become the wild within their souls. Or brains. Or wherever it came from.

Levi stirred from his position, and Eren turned his head to see Levi watching him. The brunette raised an eyebrow in silent questioning, even as his heart skipped a beat to find Levi watching him. 

Then there was a fork at his mouth, and Eren's frown made an appearance as he opened it, figuring there was no way Levi would let Eren get away with not accepting the food. The sweetness and saltiness of noodles flooded Eren's mouth, and Levi smirked as he took the fork back. Eren smiled, shaking his head and returning to watching the room around him. A joke, a silly little thing. Probably a reference Eren wasn't getting right away. Until Levi fed Eren another mouthful. And another, and another and another. Eren took them all, sending looks to Levi who ignored them by either keeping his face blank or looking at his phone. Eren wanted to ask Levi what he was doing, but it was a bit hard to do so when noodles were being forced into your damned mouth.

His stomach seemed to fall through, butterflies swerving and twisting and diving as it slowly tore him apart from the inside. Nerves somehow made their way in there too, for an entirely different reason. The worst part was he really didn't mind Levi feeding him, it was... domestic.

Eventually, the onslaught of noodles ended without a second glance or word from Levi. Eren sighed in relief, only now noticing the slight glances people were giving them. Eren turned to Erwin, wanting to move on.

"Hey, have you read any good books lately?" Erwin raised a very large, unruly brow. 

"I didn't know you were a reader."

"Oh, I'm not." Eren laughed. "I'm asking for Armin. He's been burning through books lately and he wanted to know what your taste was." Eren had a feeling that Armin wanted to know Erwin's taste in partners, too. Not that his little blonde friend would ever admit it, but he saw the shy glances Armin sent his way.

"Right. Um, yeah I think I've got a couple he might like. Hang on I've got a list here somewhere." Erwin began searching through his phone and Eren hummed his thanks. 

And then there was a weight upon Eren's hand, cold and soft. Eren whipped his head to see Levi's had moved his hand across the desk to claim Eren's. The latter could only stare at his friend as he took in the situation. Levi was holding his hand.  _Levi was holding his gods-damned hand._

"Levi." Eren hissed, attempting to retract his hand. Levi paid him no mind, however, and his grip only tightened the more Eren struggled. So, in satisfying that stupid want he could feel in the back of his hand, in his bones, Eren stopped struggling.

"Levi," Eren said again, leaning again to capture Levi's attention. He succeeded, as Levi's head raised from his phone and his hair fell perfectly around his perfect face. Eren halted, sucking in a sharp breath, the air in his lungs leaving at the mere sight of the male before him. It had to be Eren's surfacing gay thoughts to blame. Eren had seen Levi's face countless times, had studied it many times, laughed with it many times and thought about it many times. Eren tried not to think about how this time, seeing it made Eren want to stop and stare forever. Wondered whether it would happen many more times. 

Eren could say nothing as Levi looked at Eren questioningly, and continued to say nothing as Levi looked back down at his phone through lack of response from Eren. 

He didn't even know why the gesture bothered him. It didn't, not really. It was just... unexpected. Odd. Out of nowhere. Eren cast a look at Erwin, who was merely looking through his phone. Looking for the list. Levi's act had made Eren forget all about it. Eventually, Erwin found it and held out his phone to Eren. His eyes didn't flicker to the hands which were now intertwined, courtesy of Levi. Eren was grateful for that, at the very least. Eren attempted to look through the titles, see if he recognised any of them from Armin's massive collection or whether he knew them himself. It proved difficult, Eren's mind still focused on the burning on his skin, burned as if it were on fire. 

"I can airdrop them to you if you'd like, or I can share a doc with Armin."

"Um, I don't mind. Whatever suits you best, really." Eren said thickly, swallowing to try clear his throat. The burning had expanded, spread as it bit into his arms, engulfed his chest and singed his neck. Flames flickered and burned up his throat, smoke swirling and curling begging to be let out. 

He'd held plenty of hands, Mikasa's, Sasha's, Connie's, even Jean's for fuck's sake. Levi was no different. Maybe he was getting sick. Or maybe it was just his hormones going wild, who knew. 

"Alright, well if you give me Armin's account then I'll just send them to him. It'll be easier for you." Erwin smiled.

"Alright, cool." Eren hoped his returning smile didn't come out more of a grimace. As Eren reached for his phone, he noticed the staring that had begun to occur around him. Some people's attention was fractured, looking back and forth, some looking once and never again. Others lingered, while some stayed longer than what was a casual observation. Eyes looked to the hands joined together, fingers linked and holding each other in an embrace, palms just an inch away from each other. The fire raged, and Eren's face went up in flames.

Despite the looks and attention it was gaining, Levi still paid it all no mind. He didn't look up from his phone, didn't make to pull away from the embrace he'd initiated. His finger didn't pause or falter as it continued it's descent down the feed Levi was currently looking through. Levi wasn't bothered, wasn't worried in the slightest. And that fact was like a bucket of water being poured down Eren's throat as the flames were smothered, and they winked out until nothing but embers remained. Then nothing. Besides, he's lying if he said he didn't like holding Levi's hand. 

So Eren took a deep breath, and tightened his grip.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eren stood still, doing his best to resist the urge to move from one foot to the other. He rubbed his hands together, breathing deeply. Levi looked at him, his face neutral as he waited for Eren to speak. Eren finally broke out of his silence. 

"What was that?"

"What?"

"What was- Levi you held my hand!"

"And?" Eren looked at his friend, dumbfounded. Did he really not see the implications of the gesture?

"Levi, you are aware there are rumours of us floating around, right? Of us being  _together._ "

Levi's face didn't change as he said, "Yes,  _and?_ "

"You're fueling the fire, Levi! I thought we weren't caring about it because it was going to  _fade out._ "  _And now you're fueling these stupid hormonal thoughts of mine. "_ It's not gonna fade out if we keep adding gasoline. It's going to turn into a very messy dumpster fire," It wasn't anger Eren was feeling, not at all. Nor was it disgust or any other negative emotion. It was more confusion than anything. Levi looked at Eren for a moment, analysing, assessing.

"Eren, that's the point. Let's mess with them."

"What?" Eren blinked.

"Look, think about it." Levi sighed. "We both know the rumours are false and stupid, made by a bunch of dickheads with nothing better to do with their lives. No one's confronting us, so it's nor harming us in any way. Besides, from what I've heard it's mostly just speculating. They don't know what they think is happening between us. So, what better way to deal with their stupid, bullshit ignorance than to play with it, play with them?"

"Levi that's... wow, that is something."

"I'm not gonna force you into anything, obviously." Levi shrugged, looking down. "If it is actually bothering you just say so, and we can let it all drop. But, if you want something to do on the sidelines..." Levi gave Eren a wicked smile. "This'll be one hell of a ride."

Eren could only stare at his friend. What he was asking... it was genius, in a sense. Mess with the assumptions people were making about them and then announce later on they were playing with the ridiculousness of it all. It could be fun, the only thing getting in the way being those stupid hormonal thoughts of his. But those would pass, and maybe this scheme could help with that passing.  

And his close friends. God, how could he look them in the face if they asked him if anything was going on between him and Levi? He'd have to lie, surely. But they were also aboard the train of rumours, and if it was just all in good fun...

So Eren looked at Levi, feeling a blink of mischief appear in his eyes.

"Alright then, Levi. Let's spread this rumour like wildfire."


	26. Demon Chapter that took me 3-4 days to write even though it's not that long or good

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Levi meets Eren's dad, our boys do some brainstorming, and they take pity on a poor, lost abandoned soul, taking him in as their own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First, thank you all so much for your kind sweet and encouraging comments, they mean the world to me and I really appreciate it. I'm feeling better now, so I'm gonna go on an edit spree after my exams this week. Thank you all for your understanding and patience.
> 
> Second,  
> Excuse my language, but,
> 
> WRITING HAS BEEN A BITCH THESE PAST TWO WEEKS HOLY FUCK.  
> It has been so hard???? One day I only wrote 46 words because I just couldn't get the words to work in coherent sentences. I don't know whether it's from my family member passing away or just lack of interest in this particular part of the story?? It's just so frustrating. But I am getting excited for the next couple of chapters I'm about to write.
> 
> This chapter isn't well edited because my uterus is killing me and I just really wanna get a chapter out because I have 3 exams in the next two days so if I don't do it now it'll be another week and I hate this chapter and want it OUT. Sorry for any errors 
> 
> Anyways, thank you all so much, love you guys.
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

Eren looked over at the wall, only a few steps away, and wanted nothing more in life than to bang his head against it. Of course the one time Levi came over and his parents were home, his dad ensnared them. Of course.

 

“So, what are you taking this year?"

 

“Um, physics, English, sociology, maths, photography and French."

 

“Ah right, so pretty standard ones. I quite liked physics as a young kid, but biology was my real calling. French though, eh? That's pretty difficult. At least it was back in my day, I don't know if it's changed." Eren rolled his eyes as his dad chuckled at his 'joke'. Levi even cracked a smile, causing Eren to reconsider the wall.

 

“I’m actually French, so it's my easiest class." Grisha's eyes widened in surprise.

 

“Wow, really? Eren's never told me that."

 

“Oh yes, because my dad totally needs to know my friend's French."

 

“I’m just saying, it would have been nice to know. So did you live in France for very long?"

 

“We lived there up until I was around ten and then we moved.”

 

“I wouldn't have even been able to tell, you've got no accent."

 

“It never seemed to stick around."

 

"Well, I guess that's something you two have in common then. Both of you from different ethnicities."

 

“I guess so. Although, I haven't heard Eren speaking any German." Eren elbowed Levi, emitting a smirk from his shorter friend.

 

Levi and Eren's dad continued to talk for what felt like an eternity until Eren finally found an excuse to drag him and Levi up the stairs to his bedroom.

 

“Oh my god, I am so sorry about that. Dad's got this weird thing where he just has to have a full on interrogation of my friends. Connie looked like he was actually going to fucking fall asleep when it happened to him."

 

“It wasn't that bad," Levi shrugged. "I really like your dad."

 

“Okay, he must have actually scrambled your brain for you to say that."

 

"Shut up, Jaeger." Eren laughed, closing the door behind him as they walked into his room.

 

“Alright, so!" Eren launched himself on the bed, narrowly missing ramming his head into the wall. "First order of business, go grab a pen and my book off my desk."

 

"What am I, your slave?"

 

"Great suggestion, Levi. Maybe I'll promote you to my assistant."

 

“That is not a promotion of a slave-"

 

"Hush! Now fetch my things." Levi muttered something under his breath that Eren couldn't hear, but grabbed the items nonetheless.

 

“Alright, so." Eren headed up the title 'Ways to mess with ignorant assuming bastards.' "Any ideas? Considering you came up with this whole idea." Levi warily sat on Eren's bed, looking around. Eren tried not to think about the last time Levi was in his room, in his bed.

 

"I don't know, I didn't really think this far. It's a pretty stupid idea, to be honest. You're even more stupid for agreeing to do it." Eren laughed. Yes, it was stupid. Ridiculous, and could possibly cause more drama than anything. But he was bored, with nothing but homework and internals and exams to worry about, and he was bored. This would be fun, and at the same time get the rumours off his and Levi's backs.

 

"Alright, well how about we start with taking photos of us together. We could start with subtle ones, and then add more coupley things into it." Levi nodded thoughtfully.

 

“Yeah, that sounds good. Like the beach or something? That's pretty romantic isn't it?"  _ I bloody well hope not or else these thoughts will get the wrong idea. _

 

"It's a good start." Eren scribbled it down on the list. It was better than a blank piece of paper at least.

 

"We could do it after school one day."

 

"That sounds like some great fun. Alright, well what are some other ways to spread rumours? Surely there's like a special formula."

 

“I really doubt that, Eren. I mean we could look it up?"

 

“Smart man." Eren nodded and tapped the side of his head before reaching for his laptop. Arms too short to reach it on the desk from his position, Levi grabbed the laptop. Eren looked away when their fingers brushed.

 

For fifteen minutes they searched, trying their best to come up with sentences and questions that would lead them to some answers. But no matter how hard they tried, none of the searches were what they needed.

 

“These all fucking suck. They're either talking about how you should think it through before starting them, ways to spread them about other people or how to deal with rumours about yourself. Seriously, has no one ever wanted to spread rumours about themselves?"

 

"Well, usually people wouldn't want to spread these kinds of rumours about themselves." Levi rolled his eyes and took the laptop from Eren's hands. "Since this obviously isn't working, how about we just search up cringey couple stuff? See what comes up."

 

“I'm glad I've got you here with me, Levi. I am terrible at this."

 

“I can tell." Eren feigned offence in response. "But you know, that stuff from the other searches really is good advice. You're positive you wanna do this? I'm not going to force you to do this or anything else because that'd be fucked. I can  completely understand why you wouldn't want to do it."

 

"Yeah no, I'm sure. It'll be fun. Besides, it can be like a cool movie."

 

“What kind of movies have you been watching?"

 

“What movies have you been watching, Mr  _ Megamind _ .

 

“Hey, that movie is gold." Levi raised an eyebrow as if to dare Eren to disagree.

 

"Fair enough. Well, what've we got captain?"

 

“Don't call me captain."

 

"How about corporal?" Levi looked at Eren for a moment.

 

"Better, I guess."

 

"You like it, don't you?" Eren grinned. Levi rolled his eyes but otherwise didn't object.

 

“So, we have 'draw each other's names in the sand and video it as the water washes it away'. We could do that at the same time as the beach photos.”

 

“Oooh, that's a good one." Eren, against his better judgement, scooted across the bed to have better access to the laptop. His knee brushed against Levi's, causing the brunette to pinch himself.

 

“Hey, this one looks good." Levi pointed at the screen.

 

“Ew, look at this one." Eren pointed to another part of the screen. "Who the hell does this? 'When you spray his cologne on your pillow so it smells like him.' Um, creepy much?"

 

“Actually, add that to the list."

 

"Levi there is no way I'm spraying whatever French thing you wear on my pillow thank you very much.”

 

“No, you idiot. I meant just wear my clothing or my 'French thing I wear' when hanging out around people."

 

“Why do I have to? Why can't you?”

 

“Because the bottoms wear their partner's clothes, duh."

 

"What- no, you're the bottom!"

 

"We're not having this conversation-"

 

“Levi-"

 

“Look, rock family. That'd be cute." Levi cut Eren off, going as far as to put a hand over his mouth for extra precautions. Eren glared as best he could over Levi's stray finger. Levi gave Eren a warning look before removing his hand.

 

“Really? A rock family?"

 

"Yeah. Look, I think it'll work perfectly. We could play it off as a joke so they don't know how serious our relationship is or whatever. We don't want them to think we're dating- not yet anyway. We want them to be confused so they'll feel like fucking idiots when we tell them we've been messing with them for months.”

 

“You are one evil person, you know that right?"

 

“I try. Anyway, rock family? I think that's a good start. Could announce we're starting an official rock family for some shit."

 

“Actually, I've got us covered," Eren said with a devilish smile.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

“Hehe, this is going to be so great." Eren shook the glue bottle, peering inside. It'd been years since he'd actually used it, or any of his other craft items for that matter.

 

“Where the hell did you get little of bags from though? Did you just like, go around on the floor of a hairdressers and collect it?" Levi, with such precision Eren wondered if the male was putting in just a little too much effort, placed the small tuft of brown hair on the top of the rock Eren had selected would be their 'son'.

 

“Actually, Levi, I'm not some creep and I bought it from a dollar shop. I never knew why it was called that, seeing as there was some shit there that cost like $60 bucks.”

 

“Yes, but why did you buy it? Do you have like a hair fetish or something?"

 

“What, no, why would you even ask that? Mikasa had a crafts faze and I had to be the dutifully good younger brother and get involved with her. The place closed down last year though, so for old time's sake Mikasa and I went and bought a bunch of stuff that was on sale. Haven't touched it since."

 

“Wait, so you're the younger one?"

 

“Yep."

 

“Wow. Why are you in the same year then?"

 

“Well in primary, since we adopted her and she was new to this town and everything mum and dad wanted her with me, so they put her down a year. Honestly, she's probably smart enough to be in uni by now.

 

"Ooh, right. So that's why she looks nothing like you guys."

 

“Yeah. But, it's okay I guess. Isabel and Farlan are adopted, right?"

 

“Yep. Hence why they look nothing like mum, too. Can you please pass me the glue, I'm doing the eyes.”

 

"Okay, just make sure they're green. Like his father's."

 

“Eren we're both his fathers. And I think they should be blue."

 

"What? No, why blue? Blue is so basic."

 

"That is literally not even remotely true. Blue is a mutation, dumbass. I thought you took biology?"

 

“Doesn't mean I'm any good at it." Eren snorted, sorting through the bags of eyes.

 

“Alright, how about we compromise. Since we would not be able to conceive a child of our own, and this is a damn rock child, we give him standard beautiful brown eyes."

 

"You can't say standard and beautiful, just pick one." Eren poked his tongue at Levi.

 

In the end, they chose one blue and one green, after Levi's attempt to sneak on blue eyes rather than the brown which resulted in a smacking from Eren. The two leaned back and observed their handiwork. And Eren's now craft material filled bed.

 

"So, what's his name?"

 

"I was thinking-"

 

"Hey, Eren I'm coming in." Mikasa's voice sounded from outside. The two boys looked at each other, panic evident in their eyes.

 

"Alright!" Eren said, rushing to conceal their project.

 

"I was wondering if you- Eren, what the hell is this?" Mikasa cast a wary eye over at Levi, clearly calculating how close together he and her brother were. Her expression only turned more south as she took in the mess.

 

"Mikasa, I have something to tell you." Eren clutched Levi's hand, looking him in the eye before turning back to his sister. "We, have something to tell you." Eren could already see the smile making its way onto Levi's face. Levi narrowed his eyes as if to say I swear to god if you blow this we'll have some serious problems.

 

"Alright.. what is it?"

 

"Well," Eren took a deep breath.

 

Then whipped the rock from under his shirt.

 

"I'm pregnant. Or, I was. His name is Carl, and Levi is the willing father. And by willing I mean he doesn't have enough money to pay for child support so he has no choice but to be the father." Levi wheezed faintly behind Eren, who could hear his friend curling in on himself. Eren tried to fight against the smile that took over his face, but to no avail.

 

Mikasa rolled her eyes and left the room, and Eren could have sworn he heard her bedroom door slam as he and Levi lost it completely.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Eren stroked the top of Carl's head, looking fondly on the rapidly slipping face. He didn't know who to blame, himself or Levi for the sloppy work that was the rock's face.

 

"Shit, he's pretty big. How'd you get that out of your ass?"

 

"Actually, Connie, Levi and I found him on the side of the road. Little basket and everything. I mean, how could we just leave him there like absolute animals? So, we figured we had no choice but to bromo-father him. It was the only way." Eren wiped away a fake tear, cradling the rock pathetically in his arms. Jean rolled his eyes, turning to talk to Marco. Eren held back a snicker as he beheld Marco still fixated on the rock.

 

"So why'd you name it-"

 

"What are you lot crowded around?" Their tutor teacher walked in, looking slightly flustered as if he'd run up the stairs.

 

“Weed." Someone yelled, causing an uproar of laughter.

 

"Haha, very funny. Seriously boys, it better be good because you're all late for assembly."  _ Well, that explains why he looks like a wreck.  _

 

"Seriously Mr? Can't we just skip it this week?"

 

"You all skipped last week Connie, I don't think I need to jog your memory of how you lot hid in the bus bay pretending to be going on a class trip. You boys are unbelievable." The class erupted into a unison of laughter, enough so that they were all rounded up and marched down the stairs like lambs to the slaughter.

 

The hall was loud as always, and Eren was shuffled along with his class. Though they were technically late, the rest of the classes hadn't exactly shown up on time either. Eren looked around as five classes were being seated, all looking for the slip that told them where their tutor classes were supposed to sit. Eren scanned the floor, however found something else in its place

 

Eren waved Levi over with a smile, gesturing to his jacket pocket where they agreed Eren would keep Carl. There was no point in Levi carrying it- he had no one to show it off to. Levi made his way over to Eren, seeming to have not said a single word of farewell to his companions.

 

"Hey, you two." Levi rest his arm on Eren's shoulder, which didn't exactly work out seeing as his shoulders weren't exactly within in Levi's comfortable reach of them. It didn't change his course though, and by some miracle, the shorter male was able to achieve his goal.

 

"Hey," Eren smirked at the sight before him, while Armin just gave a small wave and a smile of his own.

 

"He better not be suffocating in there, Jaeger."

 

"Don't worry, he's fine." Levi snorted, readjusting his position.

 

To fit his head in the crook of Eren's shoulder.

 

Eren coughed pointedly, glancing around. No one was looking, and Armin wasn't exactly trying to hide the fact that he was trying to look anywhere but at the two boys in front of him.

 

"Hey, Levi," Eren whispered, "What are you doing? Aren't you a bit too short to be doing this?" Levi pinched Eren's arm in return. The brunette winced, glaring down at his friend. Levi angled his head up to look at Eren, returning the gesture. Then it hit Eren just what Levi was doing. He had to stop himself from making his realisation vocal. His eyes widened in understanding, causing Levi to roll his own

 

Dating, right.

 

"Levi, does this have to be done right here," Eren mumbled, just loud enough for the surrounding boys to hear what it was he was saying. He buried his face into the top of Levi's head, doing his best to feign embarrassment.

 

"What was that? I can't hear you." Levi pulled away just enough to be able to see Eren's face. Being so close to Levi's, being so close to those damn lips, those lips he almost kissed, so close to those eyes Eren always found something new about everytime he looked into them- it was all enough to make a real blush make a way onto his face.

 

;"I said- I asked why you were doing this here." The two boys looked at each other for a few moments.

 

And then Levi pulled away completely, stepping out of range to Eren. Eren had to refrain from stumbling, not realizing just how much he had given in to the comfort of Levi's warm embrace. If he wasn't blushing for real before, he certainly was now.

 

"Because it's fucking cold." Levi didn't cast another look at Eren though, and instead turned his attention to Armin.

 

"Hey, I heard Erwin gave you some book recommendations. I've never really liked his taste, but I suppose I did read a couple of really good ones he gave me. Have you had a look at them yet?" Armin blinked, confusion splayed on his face as the clogs began turning in his head. Eren's were doing the same thing.

 

"Oh, um, yeah- yeah I did have a look. I don't know, a lot of them are quite contemporary which is something I haven't read in a while. I've been really into sci-fi lately."

 

"Right. I've been more into fantasy actually, which is quite odd. You ever read Edgar Allen Poe?"

 

"Oh, actually-"

 

"Okay everyone, settle down. If the remaining tutor classes could take their seats please, then we can begin."

 

"Fuck I hate these assemblies," Levi mumbled, already making his way back to Hanji and Erwin. "See you Armin.”

 

"Bye." Eren could only stare after Levi, not quite believing that Levi had left without another word to him or look at him. Eren's heart sank. But then he looked at Armin, who appeared to be more confused than he'd ever been in his life.

 

To confuse people. That was why he'd done it. God only knew what Levi had in mind to throw people off.

 

So Eren shouldered it, ignored it, and pushed Levi out of his mind. He sat in his seat next to Connie and tried his best to focus on the assembly.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

"AaaaahhhggGGGGGHHAAHGG this SUCKS" Eren groaned, slumping against the classroom behind him. He squinted his eyes, not being bothered to raise his hand to shield his eyes from the sun. Hanji had insisted they sit outside, seeing as the colder weather was fast-approaching and they should 'soak it up while it's steaming.'

 

"Oh come on Eren, it's not that bad. Besides, you're the one who agreed to take our surveys." Armin said, taking a bite of his apple.

 

"And," Hanji cut in, "It's such a big help to have you two fill these in. Seriously, do you know how hard it is to get people to fill in your surveys? REALLY HARD." Hanji returned to her paper, studying whatever hellish subject she had a test for next.

 

"Yeah, you need to chill," Levi muttered, resting his hand on Eren's. Eren ignored it, not even taking a quick glance. Levi put his hand on his, so what? It was just enough to send off a message. A fake one, but a message nonetheless. Eren continued writing away, not another complaint leaving his lips. But then after a minute, Levi slipped his fingers in between Eren's.

 

Eren looked over, trying to catch Levi's eye but to no avail.

 

The two sat like that for a good few minutes, neither saying anything. Eren glanced up at Hanji to find her not even looking at their hands. Had Levi told her what they were doing?

 

Just as Eren was about to whisper to Levi, said boy's hand pulled away from the embrace and disappeared from Eren's peripheral vision. Eren breathed out a long sigh, his heartbeat slowly returning back to normal. Eren looked back, scanning the path. Sure enough, a pair of boys were walking down in the opposite direction. Surely they'd seen their hands clasped together. Eren slid a smile to Levi, swearing Levi was doing the same. Little by little, they'd spread this rumour.

 

Little by little.


	27. Chapter 27- The Fridge Incident

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren doesn't have a very good start to the day in it's own way, which then means that the rest of his day's a bit of a flop. Sibling chat, Izzy is me when I was younger. Fridge mishaps.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have many mixed feeling about this chapter w h o o p s. Good for you guys though because on top of that, I haven't posted in yonks so I'm gonna do a double update, just as soon as I edit the next chapter.
> 
> And let me tell you, it's an absolute fucking monster of a chapter.
> 
> Exams ate me, I beat NaNoWriMo's ass, I left my house far too much, but now I am officially on holiday, hurrah! I've spent a lot more time watching Brooklyn nine-nine that writing though so THAT'S on me.
> 
> No matter how short and kinda sucky this chapter is, hope you enjoy :)

Fuzzy, everything was fuzzy. Warmth hugged his body, and Eren hummed in contentment. Where was he?

Eren opened his eyes, scanning the room. The walls of this room were not his own, but the bed was certainly the one he'd fallen asleep in. He stretched his arms, not quite feeling the cold biting at his skin.

Footsteps.

Eren turned, eyes adjusting to the sudden light that filled the room. A shape- the shape of a person it seemed, stood in the doorway. Panic filled Eren's lungs and bones. Then it stepped into the light, and Eren calmed.

They came over to the bed, Eren's bed, and sat on the edge. The two looked at each other, Eren still blinking away the light in an attempt to clear his vision. Eren tilted his head up to look at the face above him to find that it was hovering just above his own. Eren bit his lip, still trying to see clearly.

Fuzzy. Dark, light.

Then there was a soft pressure on his lips, and Eren submitted completely to it, applying his own. This was normal, this was safe. This was... comforting.

Fuzzy. Where was the light coming from?

Levi came onto the bed properly, his lips tracing the edges of Eren's face, caressing his body with his hands. Eren reached up to tangle his fingers in Levi's hair, pulling him closer.

Fuzzy, it was too fuzzy. Levi needed to be closer.

Hands began to move over Eren's body, over fabric, over bare skin. Eren arched into the touch, sighing and reaching and clawing and craving.

Fuzzy. Warm. Too warm. Levi's hands were warm.

That's not right.

Eren opened his eyes, peering into Levi's face staring down at him from above.

The room flushed, the fuzziness of the daze beginning to clear away.

_A dream. I'm dreaming. Holy shit what am I-_

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eren's eyes snapped open, and he sat up to survey his room. The walls were familiar- his own. The bed was his own. Hotter than it was in the dream. Eren scanned his room once again, trying to calm his racing heart and rapidly coming breaths. Levi was nowhere to be seen, nor anyone else.

_Stupid fucking brain_.

Eren got up, grimacing as his clothing peeled from his skin. _Goddammit._ He checked the time on his phone. 6:57 am. Perfect. He made his way out of his room, praying that he was being quiet enough to not wake his household. He didn't want any questions as to why he was soaked through.

Eren tried to push away the memories of the dream, the thoughts and the events in which had occurred within it. It would just be because of what had been happening- the whole pretending to be together. It had to be. He'd already convinced himself that he didn't have feelings for Levi, it was just stupid hormonal thoughts and a surfacing sexual orientation crisis. Levi just happened to be a new friend, and a perfect target for these feelings and effects to latch on to. And besides, dreams were just the brain's way of handling and sorting through information it had learned, right? So there was nothing strange about it. Not if he didn't think about it too much.

So Eren hopped in the shower, and let the water wash away the fuzzy fragments of the dream.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The day hadn't gone well, thanks to his little fiasco that morning.

Every time he looked at Levi he'd stutter and stumble, have to look away as that stupid blush crept onto his cheeks. The worst part of it all was when Levi would ask what was wrong with him. What was he supposed to say? Not the truth, surely.

So Eren kept it quiet and claimed that he simply wasn't feeling well. Levi hadn't pushed any further on Eren's actions and aura, but what he did push further on was their physical contact. It certainly wasn't good for Eren's health.

Every time they touched Eren jumped, electricity shooting up through his arms and travelling through his veins. Hanji and Erwin continued to not comment on anything, and Levi never gave away whether they knew about their little prank or not. Eren didn't want to ask out of fear of ruining their whole 'operation'.

Eren chucked the small ball to the ceiling, wincing as it hit it's mark and chipped paint. School had been hell to get through, even when Eren wasn't having to deal with suddenly finding Levi way too attractive as his new crisis. He'd had an influx of internals flood into his life, his homework piling up by the day. Eren was afraid he wouldn't be able to even sit at his desk by the end of the week with how many sheets were occupying the space.

Making time for his driving lessons with his dad wasn't easy, either. Mikasa would nag him and nag him, then when he was finally ready and had free time his dad was either busy or too tired. He wasn't the most confident driver either, and it was more stressful than anything. Although frightening came in a close second. The time to hang out with others also slipped away, and not even video chatting was an available option anymore. He was sick of it all, really. His new identity crisis, strange crush thing which wasn't a crush, school, his family.

"Hey, Mikasa, what do you look for in guys?" He made eye contact with Mikasa but looked away immediately. He had to keep it together.

"Oh, um. I don't know." She said absentmindedly, having not fully comprehended who was asking the question. Which was something Eren was thankful for. "Dark haired, kind of like Marco's. But then also blonde, like Armin's- but brighter. Fit, but not like full on. I'm not sure, I don't really think about it all that often." Eren nodded, still focusing heavily on the ceiling.

"Cool." The two siblings sat in silence for a moment before Mikasa broke it.

"Why?"

"I don't know, I was just wondering." Eren shrugged, tossing the ball once again. He narrowly missed the spot where he'd just chipped paint.

"Are you sure? It's kind of odd for you to ask that out of the blue."

"Yeah, I'm sure. I was just thinking about something Connie said today." Eren lied, catching the ball.

"Okay." Mikasa mused, letting the silence enveloped them again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eren bit the inside of his cheek, slowing his breathing. He stared Isabel in the eye, almost identical to his own. Sighing loudly, he picked up the piece of paper in front of him again.

"Okay, so there are three sides to the triangle. The Adjacent, the Opposite and the Hypotenuse. AOH."

"Yes I get that, but when will I ever need to use this stuff?"

"Well, architects and builders and... maths teachers? I guess? That makes sense right?" Isabel rolled her eyes, leaning back into the couch.

"Well, I wanna be a cop so this doesn't help." Eren whistled low.

"Wow, really? You're such a hot shot, aren't you?"

"She just wants to hold a gun and be able to intimidate people with it. That smile of hers doesn't really help her with that case." Levi smirked, spinning the pencil in his hand.

"Says the one who doesn't even know what he wants to do." Isabel chirped.

"Hey, no sibling fights while I'm in the room. Right Farlan?" Eren looked over to the silent boy, who was smiling faintly.

"I would prefer it if there weren't any sibling squabbles altogether, actually."

"See? Smart man. And that's why you're my favourite Ackerman."

"He's not even a proper Ackerman! He's adopted." Isabel pouted at the brunette.

"Uh, so are you?" Eren frowned. Maybe he'd gotten something mixed up?

"Yeah, but... well-"

"But nothing, Izzy. Besides, Farlan's more like me." In the moment Levi and Farlan smiled at each other, he almost wished he had a brother.

"Yeah, intimidatingly quiet" Eren snorted, patting his friend on the back. Levi glared as his reply. "See? You've even got that face to complete the look. Although I think that skipped over Farlan."

"Look, we're all full Ackermans whether we're tied by blood or not. Now, Izzy. Maths." Levi turned to look sternly at his sister.

"Uuggghhh but I HATE maths."

"Which is exactly why you should study so you can pass it now, and don't have to take it any longer than you have to."

"Why, did you have you?" There was nothing insulting in Farlan's voice. Eren shook his head.

"No, but there's a kid in my class who did. He paid attention in class but didn't understand a word of it, went home and didn't bother to learn it. So, he had to take it for a six-month course. Poor guy. He also had to take aquatics for the other half year subject."

"Shit, that sucks." Levi snickered, leaning back. Eren swallowed thickly as he took note of how seamless it was, how it exposed his legs just that little bit more-

Stop it, gay thoughts. Not now. Not here. Not when his siblings are here, Jesus!

Eren took one more quick glance before turning his attention back to Isabel's homework sheet.

"Look, all you have to do is look at these two sides. Okay so," Eren drew out a triangular table and filled in the little slots with the appropriate letters. He then drew two others and filled those out too.

"Okay, so you've probably heard your teacher say the word 'Soh-cah-toa' before. These triangles-"

"I give up, this is too hard. Maybe I'll just drop out of school altogether." Isabel stood from her seat and stormed to her room. Eren held his hands up in defeat before slumping back into the chair.

"I tried! I tried my hardest, I honestly did."

"I know you said," Levi said quietly.

"I'll go talk to her. There's no way she'll get into police school without passing junior maths." Farlan set off. Eren could only hope he wouldn't be bombarded with a pillow one step into his sister's room.

"Come on," Levi said, standing. Eren quickly looked away as Levi stretched. He did not need to see Levi's potential skin showing. Nope. He was not having that.

"I hope we're not about to join Farlan in his endeavour because last time I went into your sister's room when she was in a bad mood, it did not end well."

"Yeah, mum still hasn't gotten over the mess she made. No, we're going into the kitchen because I'm thirsty and whenever you're getting agitated from sitting too long, you start to do this weird thing with your shoulder. It's fucking creepy man, you should get that checked out." Eren could only gape at Levi as he walked out of the room.

He'd noticed such a small thing about him... such a strange, obscure thing to notice. Even if Levi had insulted it when pointing it out. Eren shook the thoughts brewing and swirling in his head, and strode after Levi.

"If you're hungry you can just grab whatever you want from the pantry, unless Isabel has written her name on something in glitter pen."

"What if it's not in glitter pen?"

"Then go wild. Those are the ones she has labelled as, 'things the males can have on special occasions.'

"And I assume I'm a special occasion?"

"Naturally. Do you want some water?"

"Water would be nice, actually. Thanks." Eren stood for a moment, looking over the shelves. Too many things to choose from. Then Eren realized that he was in the way of the fridge. He was about to move out of Levi's way when a weight pressed into his back. Eren froze, then sped into action. He moved his arms first, trying to take up as little space as possible. He then moved his foot half a step to the left, towards the exit of the kitchen.

"Chill, Eren. You're all goods." Levi said smoothly, no hesitation at all.

"Are you sure, I can just move to-"

"No, no. Dude, seriously it's fine. You're just so fucking tall. Move back on three. One, two, three-" Levi took a solitary step back, and Eren followed. Levi's arms had somehow snaked their way around Eren's waist, hands clasping the fridge door. It opened smoothly.

"Do you want me to grab whatever it is your looking for?"

"No, it's fine. Just duck down a little, please."

"Yeah, sure." Eren bent his knees and scrunched his face together at the contact between him and Levi. His ass pressed against Levi's crotch, Eren couldn't help but laugh at the position. Levi had the same idea. Eren only lost it more as he felt Levi shake with laughter, making the pose even more suggestive. The two continued laughing as Levi reached out and grabbed the bottle of cold water, before retreating.

"God, we should have filmed that. Or at least taken a photo. The fuckers at school would that eaten that up." Levi laughed, making his way back to the bench.

"Yeah, true. Then again, we would have received a lot of comments about theories that the thing being eaten up is your ass."

"I think you mean your ass, Jaeger. We already discussed this, I am the father."

"I will disagree until my lasting breath."

"Don't you mean your dying breath?"

"Don't tell me what I mean and what I don't."

"Right. Well, maybe we'll just have to settle who's the top some other time. Right now, I need some fucking holy water to deal with my demon of a sister." Levi left the kitchen, taking his glass of water with him and leaving Eren's on the bench. Eren could only gape after Levi, a smile having taken over his face immediately. _Did he just flirt with me?_ _The_ _bastard._ Eren swiped something off the shelf without really looking at what it was, grabbed his water and followed Levi back into the lounge.


	28. Beach Banter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren and Levi head to the beach to take some bashful photos to help spread their rumour- too bad it's night and there's no sun to soak up. Eren hangs out with his friends, who discover something that results in a lot of questions being asked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Very long time gap double update! My laptop died and won't let me charge while using it so I had to wait to edit this chapter :,)
> 
> Hope you enjoy this monster of a chapter, I was dreading the first bit but I really enjoyed the rest so I hope you do too!

Eren shivered, cursing silently. How was it that one side of your body could be so warm while the other side was left to be so cold?

Levi breathed quietly and evenly as he leaned into Eren's side, providing plenty of heat and protection from the oncoming wind one way. Unfortunately, there was no person to stand guard at Eren's other side, and there was no way he was going to disturb Levi by moving, so Eren simply gritted his teeth and bared the discomfort of the cold. Eren glanced back over at Erwin for what must have been the fifth time in the past fifteen minutes. He still hadn't batted an eye at Eren and Levi's closeness, hadn't suggested through body language nor words that he wondered what was going on between the two. Maybe Levi was just affectionate with people once he got to know them more.

The thought made Eren's blood boil, to his dismay.

The three had been sitting in undisturbed silence, in contentment for about half an hour. It had been one of the best lunch times Eren had ever had. Eren forced his eyes open as he heard footsteps approaching. Obscene, footsteps.

Hanji bounded up to them, Armin following her up timidly. The poor boy looked half frozen, despite the jackets and sweater layering his form. And he didn't have a Levi to warm at least one of his sides.

"Hellooo you beautiful people!"

"Seriously Hanji, do you ever stop being so goddamn fucking happy?" Levi growled, snuggling closer into Eren. It made his heart skip a beat. Hanji just looked down on Levi, an eyebrow raised.

"Well, someone's grumpy."

"He's always grumpy." Eren joked, taking the risk of poking Levi's cheek. The shorter male swatted Eren's hands away, but didn't make any indication of wanting to move away from their embrace.

"It's fucking cold, of course, I'm going to be a bit shitty."

"A bit? Please, you've been glaring all morning. And your eye bags aren't looking too good either."

"Leave him alone, Hanji," Armin said quietly, looking away. Hanji gasped.

"Armin, how could you? I thought you were on my side always!"

"That's in SCAT meetings. Here, you're just as likely to be submitted to his good-natured logic as anyone else. Sorry Hanji, I remember my first time realizing this too." Eren said, sending a sympathetic look his friend's way.

"What do you mean your first time?" Levi smirked.

"You tend to forget it, and then at the worst time possible, Armin brings down his sword of truth on you. It's rather unfortunate, really."

"Right."

"Anyway, Armin and I came to ask a favour."

"Oh, here we go."

"Stop that, Eren. Look, all we need is for you guys to help us out with a little promotional thing at an assembly. No big deal."

"What's it for?" Erwin asked with an eyebrow raised. _Good, he's suspicious too. Smart man._

"Well, it's a SCAT thing. We're having a fundraiser and it's really important for us. We would really appreciate it." Armin took over, looking at Eren with pleading in his eyes. "It would really mean a lot if you guys could help us out."

"Well, I would love to but I can't make it to assemblies. I have mini-council meetings." Erwin announced, already beginning to tune out of the conversation.

"Wait, you're in the mini council?" Eren asked, face as one of betrayal. "Why didn't you ever say anything?"

"He has said it many times, Eren. You just never listen." Levi said sleepily, sinking further into Eren's embrace. The brunette had to adjust to accommodate the extra pressure. _Privileged bastard._

"Thank you anyway, Erwin." Armin turned to Eren and Levi. "So, that just leaves you two then."

"Well, I kinda have-"

"We'll do it." Levi cut in, sitting up abruptly.

"What, no Levi I have-"

"-To tease them into thinking you can't do it? Don't be a dick, Jaeger." Levi sent Eren a look that clearly said _shut the fuck up_. Eren slumped his shoulders and mumbled,

"Fine. We'll do it."

"Great!" Hanji jumped. "I'll text you guys the details later. For now, Armin and I have some business to attend to." And just as quickly as they had arrived they were gone.

"What have you guys gotten yourselves into." Erwin chuckled, returning to his book.

"Yeah," Eren said with a pointed glare at Levi. "What have you gotten us into?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The wind nipped at Eren's exposed neck as he adjusted his jacket. He rubbed his hands together as he scanned the beach for Levi. The male was nowhere to be seen, even though _he_ was the one who told Eren not to be late. _Fuck you, Levi, fuck you_. It was another ten minutes until Eren heard a car parking in the distance, and he made his way over.

Sure enough, it was Levi who stepped out of the car, bundled up in what had to be the biggest coat Eren had ever seen in his entire life. He let out a low whistle.

"Looking good, Levi."

"Shut up, brat. Sorry I'm late, Izzy was having a fit because she wanted to come and I couldn't exactly tell her the reason why she couldn't. Although, I didn't expect you to be on time."

"Dude I was early, I was too afraid you'd drown me in the ocean otherwise."

"Pitty I don't have an excuse anymore."

"Shut up." Eren laughed, turning back towards the beach. "You ready?"

"Yep." Levi sighed, leading the way. "Let's go take some gross ass fake couple pictures.

As the two walked along the beach to find a set of rocks Levi was convinced did in fact exist, Eren watched the distance between them. They were a respectable part away from each other, and Levi didn't make any move to get closer to Eren. He didn't go for his hand or say he was cold and didn't say anything when Eren was visibly shaking. So, that meant that Levi was just being touchy-feely at school for the rumour.

And for some reason, some stupid reason, that thought sunk Eren's stomach.

"There, you fucker, there it is." Levi began jogging over to the rocks. Eren shook his head with a smile and raced after his friend.

Levi sat upon a particularly tall rock, already taking his phone out of his pocket.

"Alright so, what do you wanna do first?" Eren smiled up at Levi, who was dangling his legs without a care in the world.

"Well, we could put him by these other big rocks and post it with the caption 'son makes new friends.'"

"Great idea." Eren shuffled on his feet, waiting for Levi to come down from the rocks.

He did no such thing.

"Levi," Eren sighed. "You need to come down."

"Oh, but it' so nice up here. Being taller."

"What will be even nicer is when we fuck with everyone once we take the photos."

"Alright then, we'll make a deal." Levi leaned over the edge slightly, making Eren's stomach dip slightly. "You come up here and sit with me for a few minutes, and then we can take the photos."

"I'm good man, thanks. Look, I'll just take some by myself. Make a single father joke." Eren took a step back, doing his best not to look at how close Levi was to the edge as his legs dangled. Eren fumbled with his phone, cursing as he pressed the wrong button multiple times. Eren flushed when he heard Levi snicker from above.

"Could it be that the famous Eren Jaeger is afraid of heights?"

"No," Eren said all too quickly. "I just can't be bothered. It's late, dude."

"Friend-zoning me now, are you? That's pretty defensive." Levi took his hands off the base of the rock and held them high above his head in a stretching motion. Eren did his best to ignore the gesture. "It's a shame, really. Such a good view from up here. You know I've always wondered what it would be like to have some height added on. Even better, I can look down on you now." Eren simply turned around and stared up at Levi.

"If you fall, I'm not catching you."

"Come on Eren, just admit you're afraid of heights."

"You're setting a bad example for Carl."

"I admitted I was afraid when we were on the bridge," Levi said quietly, though not weakly. Eren smiled at the memory. It felt like a million years ago when they'd gone to the greenhouse, the cafe and then the bridge. How he'd held Levi close to his body in an attempt to override his fear and to admire the ocean rumbling and roaring with life beneath them. The memory made Eren's heart hum and slow in its beat.

"Yeah, you did."

"And your solution was to fucking hold me against my will as I was scared shitless, so fucking close to that damn fence."

"It worked, didn't it?" Eren chuckled, kicking at the sand beneath his feet.

"More or less. Look at least I'm not doing that to you and I'm giving you a choice. Come up here and sit with me for five minutes- I'll even time it. Then we'll take the photos." Levi looked down at Eren with an expression the brunette couldn't pinpoint in the near dark. "You can trust me." Something about the sincerity of those words, the implication that their relationship ran so much deeper than new friends, made Eren think that perhaps he could trust Levi to help him with this fear. Made him _want_ to trust Levi with it.

So Eren made his way up the rock, focusing on Levi's outstretched hand as he fumbled with the jagged edges that were his lifts, focused on Levi's face when he felt like looking down, and focused on the fact that the flush in his cheeks at the intensity of Levi's stare had nothing to do with they gay thoughts roaming in the back of his mind.

Eren eventually made it to the top of the rock and clutched Levi's hand so tightly, that he was surprised when there was no reaction from Levi. Maybe his hands had abs, too.

Neither of the two boys said anything, merely stared out at the sea rolling before them and listening to the slight rustle of the wind. Eren took a shuddering breath, trying his best to ignore the fact that one slight slip would send him-

"See, not so bad after all is it?" Levi said, loosening his grip of Eren's hand.

"Well, at least I'm taller than you again." Eren laughed, closing his eyes tightly. His grip on Levi's hand didn't lighten.

"Hey, look at me." Eren heard Levi lean forward to look at Eren's face better, but he didn't dare open his eyes. "Eren."

"You've started the timer, right?"

"Do you trust me?" Eren's eyes snapped open at the four words. Eren took a moment to reply.

"Well, I guess I have to don't I?"

"Are you referring to the fact we're a good four meters from the ground or is there something else you're thinking of?" Eren laughed, his smile only widening at the expression on Levi's face. It was... relaxed.

"That, but also the fact we're doing this whole rumour thing together. I mean, I wouldn't fake date/pretend to fake date just anyone."

"Well," Levi said, slipping his hand out of Eren's now relaxed ones, "then I guess I'm honoured. Now, let's go and take some of those photos before we both freeze our fucking arses off." Eren agreed with a laugh, and the two made their way down the pile of rocks. Luckily, no injuries were gained and only a minimal amount of fear constricted Eren's movement.

"Okay, go stand by the rocks and I'll take the photos, then we can swap."

"Can we do rock selfies?"

"Yes," Levi said while rolling his eyes, "We can do rock selfies."

"Perfect," Eren said with a devilish smile and made his way over to the rocks. He crouched with Carl in his hand, pulling the peace sign with his other. He changed positions and gestures every so often as Levi moved around.

"Alright, now toss him up into the air!"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because it's way too fucking dark to be throwing rocks around."

"What do you mean? There's no one around." Eren tilted his head. Levi sighed, giving Eren an exasperation look.

"I'm here, Eren."

"Oh, right... Okay. I'll do it then."

"Who says you won't get hit on the head and then I'll have to drive you home, breaking the law, and explaining to your parents why you have a massive fucking lump on your head?"

"Aw, is Levi suddenly in a caring mood?" Eren teased, fiddling with the camera. Levi didn't reply, and when Eren looked up from the device in his hands the expression on Levi's face was anything but playful.

"Hey, you okay?"

"Fine. I'm- fine. If you wanna toss the rock, you can."

"Hey hey, you can't just call him 'the rock', how would you like it if your mum just called you 'the human child'."

"Eren a rock and a person are completely different things-"

"You know what no, she'd be wrong. You're certainly not human. You're something that crawled out of hell." Eren looked Levi up and down warily, taking a slight step back. Levi let out a small smile and rolled his eyes. He walked over to Eren, hands reaching out for the camera. When he took hold of it, Levi looked Eren straight in the eyes.

"Well, that explains why I'm so hot then. Mum could never really give me a reason why." Then he pried the camera from Eren's not-so-strong grip and walked away back to the rocks. Eren chocked on air, whether from laughter or another emotion crawling in the back on his mind, he didn't know.

"Alrighty." Eren mentally kicked himself at the voice crack. "Well, I suppose we should move onto the next thing then."

"No, Eren, really, I insist. Toss Carl." Levi spun on his heel to face Eren. "See if you can catch him." Eren searched Levi's face for any hint of hostility, but there was none. No, in the dark of the night Eren could only see the glint of playfulness in his eyes.

"You know what, you're right. I don't think my mum's really in the mood to be dealing with an injured son. Although, I think Mikasa's the real problem in this situation. If you're from a pit in hell then she came up from an even deeper one."

"I thought you didn't like people speaking ill of your sister?"

"Well, we've already established you're not a person exactly and well, I'm her brother. I get an immunity pin."

"Mhm. Anyway, what was that thing you wanted to move onto?"

"Right!" Eren bounded over to Levi, the sand slipping beneath his shoes as he ran over to his friend.

"I found," Eren pulled out his phone, unlocking it to show Levi a photo that was already waiting, "The perfect thing to do for that words being washed away crap. Look," Levi's eyes scanned the photo.

It was evening in the photo, the sun displayed perfectly on the sand. In the sand was written, very clearly done with poorly broken off branches from god knows where, 'Forever and ever <3'. Eren then swiped across, and another picture took its place. The tide had come up and washed away most of the writing, only a small part of it remaining. When Eren first saw it it had warmed his heart slightly- before he realized how dumb it was. The meaning behind it was cute though, at least.

"It's perfect." Levi mused, pulling away. Eren didn't realize just had close they'd been standing.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." Levi nodded, already looking across the each for a place to re-make the picture.

"So we need sticks, a flat surface and also water to wash it away."

"Well, I saw a couple of trees while I was walking here from my car, there's bound to be fallen branches. And we can always just wait for the water to come."

"Yeah, but I told dad to come pick me up at ten thirty. It's already ten."

"I can just drop you off later."

"You just said yourself that it's against the law. I don't want you to get demerit points."

"Well I mean it's already illegal to drive past ten on your restricted, so I'm on a roll, really." Levi shrugged his shoulders. "Unless your parents wouldn't be okay with that."

"What, no," Eren said all too quickly. "It'll be fine. I'll just tell dad not to worry about it. You do realize we could be waiting for hours right?"

"Yeah well, you gotta do what you gotta do."

"We could always just come another night, it's not like the beach is a forbidden place that is only available to us once every new moon."

"No, but I do have two younger siblings and a hard working mum which only allows me to leave my house once every new moon.

"Right, sorry." Eren laughed, tossing Carl from one of his hand to the other. "I forgot." Levi waved him off.

"Don't worry about it. But, we really should be getting to work on our masterpiece since we don't know when the tide's coming in and all."

"Cool." So the two traced their steps back to Levi's car, finding the trees he'd been talking about. Levi had also decided that it was now too hot for such a big coat, and of course, typical Levi hadn't bought a thinner one. So it was just him and his short sleeve shirt. Eren had offered his own jacket, but Levi wasn't having it.

The branches they found weren't perfect, one being so short it could have passed as a stick and the other long enough it could have been one of the tree's roots. Eren had picked up the smaller one thinking it was longer than it really was, and proceeded to make the joke 'well, guess I got the short end of the stick.' to which Levi replied with a smack on the shoulder. They then continued to scan the beach for a flat surface that wasn't too close to the water that when it came up they'd be caught up in it all that they wouldn't be able to take the picture. It took them about half an hour, but they did get there eventually.

"Alright, so I guess I'll write the 'forever and' and you'll write the ever love heart. Cool?" Levi nodded and gestured for Eren to get started on his part of the sentence.

It proved harder than expected- with Eren's twig snapping instantly and Levi's being a bit too hard to control. Countless times the two poked each other on accident (or so it was claimed) and countless times did the two snap at each other about giving the other enough space to work on their part of the sentence. Eventually, they'd given up, and Levi had sat down and watched the tide while Eren finished off his half first.

"There," Eren stepped away and held out the stick for Levi to grab. "Your turn." Levi wordlessly took the stick and stalked over to what Eren had started. The brunette took his own seat and watched Levi.

More like followed every single movement he made. Every time Eren tried to pry his eyes away, he failed. It was the way Levi moved, how his face was completely blank with a concentration that captivated Eren. Then his eyes would travel down to his arms, exposed through him wearing only a short-sleeved shirt. Eren couldn't understand how he wasn't half frozen to death by now.

"Alright, I'm done. What now?" Eren shook the images of Levi from his mind and walked over to see their handiwork.

It was terrible, absolutely terrible. It wasn't like the two hadn't tried- perhaps they even tried a bit too hard, but the fact that it looked horrible didn't avert the smile that was slowly making its way onto Eren's face.

"Well, now we wait I guess. What do you want to do?"

"I don't know what we can do, we're at the beach at fucking night and could be waiting for a few hours." There was no bite to Levi's words.

"We could sit in your car and listen to music?"

"Don't want to miss waiting for the tide to come in." Levi then peered over to Eren, an accusation on his face.

"What?"

"Why didn't you check tide times if you had this planned?" Eren froze for a second before his face burst into flames. _Good thing it's dark_. In truth it hadn't even crossed his mind, why would it? He wasn't exactly the master at planning and timing things.

"Didn't think of it?" Eren shrugged his shoulders awkwardly, giving Levi a matching smile. Levi just rolled his eyes and began walking.

"Come on, let's just find shells to decorate it with."

"So it's not just me that thinks it's a piece of shit then?" The two boys smiled at each other.

"No you're right, it's the ugliest thing I've ever fucking seen. Worse than Erwin's eyebrows." Eren laughed at that, imagining drawing Erwin's eyebrows in the sand above the words 'forever and forever' and watching it get washed away. He shared this thought with Levi, causing the boy to chime in with Eren's own laughter.

Eren sighed as they began their walk down the sand, taking in the sight of patches of water faint in the distance. He looked out at the endless stretch of the sand, wondering just how long they'd have to wait. Eren flicked his eyes over to Levi's bare arms. He wondered how long that would last.

Eventually, the two boys did find a small selection of shells, and the decorating went as well as expected. They argued over what would look better, then what would look more romantic, then decided to just put one in each corner and put one in the centre of the heart. They then sat next to the image, and waited. Half an hour passed, then another set of thirty minutes. In this time they just talked about general things, school, siblings, friends hobbies. Eren spilt a lot more stories about Connie than he should have, really.

It seemed the tide wasn't going to come in anytime soon.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Let's have a sand castle competition!" Eren sat up, shaking his hair in a desperate attempt to shake the sand from it. Levi scrunched his face together, lips in a thin line as the sand rained down.

"Next time, warn me before you start shaking like a dog."

"Dog's don't warn you though, either." Eren pointed out, running a hand through the back of his hair.

"Yeah, that's why people hate it when dogs shake." Levi stood, stretching his legs. He'd broken about forty-five minutes in when he'd had to go and retrieve his jacket from the car. Eren had insisted he go with him, but Levi had said that one of them needed to stay in case the tide came in. So Eren had sat there alone, for ten minutes as Levi took his sweet time retrieving the jacket.

"Well, I think it's adorable. They just look so happy when doing it." Levi rolled his eyes.

"So, this sandcastle thing. Are we having stakes or are we just doing it for nothing?"

"Well," Eren started, "We could also use this an excuse to take photos for our rumour. Oh, and we can make a smaller one as well and say that Carl made it!" Eren shot up next to Levi, buzzing slightly on the spot.

"You're really getting into this whole rock family thing aren't you?" Levi mused.

"Hell yeah I am. So, you in? Winner has to do the other's homework for a week."

"I wouldn't trust you anywhere near my homework, brat."

"Right. Okay, well..." Eren looked around before his eyes ell on the image in front of them. He grinned at Levi. "Loser has to post the cringiest of the photos." Levi's smile matched Eren's.

"You're on."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I'm telling you, Levi, you're going to eat my dust."

"We're on a beach," Levi smirked, not even looking up.

"Alright then, you'll just have to eat my sand." Levi finally looked up from his sand castle, blank face staring at Eren's smirking one.

"What are you trying to get from this?" He said, voice monotone.

"Oh nothing, just trying to warn you how badly you're gonna lose, and how many comments you're gonna get."

"Well Eren, I actually only have a total of 24 followers, being my mum, Izzy, Farlan, Erwin, Hanji, Armin you and a couple of other people before the randoms. So really, it's a win-win situation for me." Levi shrugged, returning to his castle. Eren was just left to gape at Levi, fairly sure that if the wind picked up he would be the one eating sand rather than his own words.

He only had twenty-four followers? How was that possible? He was beautiful as heck, and it wasn't like his posts were boring. They were just... an acquired taste of photos. Aside from the actual photos of him. They were something Eren would like and scroll past, before having to scroll back up and look at for another two minutes before he could move on. Though the photos didn't merely catch how beautiful he was in real life, at all, they were still insanely flattering of the male. Eren would have followed Levi's account a million times if he could.

But that wasn't the real problem right now, oh now. His problem was that Levi had outsmarted Eren in his bet. And now he had to win.

_Motherfucker_.

"Alright, well that just means-"

"I'm done, by the way." Levi sat on his heels, looking down on his creation.

"What? How?" Eren blurted, jogging over to Levi. Eren had insisted they'd built them closer together, but Levi didn't trust Eren not to knock over his castle when his was better than the brunette's. He didn't trust Eren in any competition after they'd played Mario Kart together that one time.

"I spent a lot less time trying to antagonize you and spent a lot more time actually working on my castle. Really Eren, you didn't do yourself any favours."

"You-"

"Now step away, I don't trust you anywhere near my homework or my sandcastle. I'll work on Carl's while you do yours."

"But I wanna help," Eren whined, gesturing to towards the rock on Eren's spare jacket. "Look, he clearly wants us both to help."

"He clearly doesn't care because it's a rock. Now hurry up, the tide could come in any minute now."

"Fine," Eren grumbled and resumed his making of the castle.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Levi had clearly won, and even Eren who hated to admit it more than anything, had to do so.

He'd even made a flag. A fucking flag made of seaweed he'd somehow found discarded by the sea on the sand. He'd also done most of the mini sand castle for Carl, though Eren had been allowed to do the decorations entirely. It was a fair trade, he thought.

"Alright then, Mr. You win this time."

"Damn right I do. Hope you have fun posting all the photos we're about to take."

"Jokes on you," Eren said, whipping out his phone. "I enjoy posting pictures with my rock family."

Levi just rolled his eyes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"What do you think the workers at countdown think when we look at the milk for way too long?" Eren asked, absentmindedly running his finger through the sand. Levi was laying down beside him, hands still as they rested on the lower of his stomach. Eren tried not to glance down at those hands too long, too often. And successfully managed to keep his eyes from travelling down any further.

"That you're a poor lactose intolerant soul longing after the milk while I'm your friend who has pitied you long enough. Which isn't too far from the truth." Levi said with a pointed look.

"Hey, it's not my fault I'm too poor for chocolate milk."

"Well, I've told you plenty of times that I'd buy it for you if you'd just let me get the lime milk."

"Fuck no, you're breath absolutely reeks of it when you drink it."

"Then just don't be around me!"

"It's pretty hard when the smell gets all in the air."

"You're just overreacting."

"Am I?" The two shared intense eye contact before Levi shot his leg out and kicked Eren, a smile finally breaking out onto his face. Eren let out a low chuckle of his own as the two of them looked back up to the sky.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Levi?" Eren pitched himself up on one arm and looked down Levi.

"Levi." Eren tried again, this time leaning over to make sure his friend was still breathing. And maybe also to see his face a bit closer, just to make sure there was no sand on it. And maybe to make sure he was breathing, just one more time. And then one more time just to double check that his friend was actually asleep.

He was.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eren shrieked as he slipped on the sand, flailing his hands around as if he were a man overboard.

"MAN DOWN, MAN DOWN!"

"GOOD, YOU PIECE OF SHIT," Levi yelled back, running after the brunette.

"IT WAS AN ACCIDENT." Eren wheezed with laughter, his energy quickly depleting. Still, he was back on his feet in no time and running as fast as he could away from his pursuer.

"HOW DO YOU FUCKING ACCIDENTALLY DUMP A SHIT LOAD OF SAND ON SOMEONE?"

"BY ACCIDENT?" Eren didn't dare to look behind him. He'd have to keep running- his only chance at survival was to tire Levi out enough that he'd give up.

In Eren's defence, he really didn't know what else to do. Eren hadn't been able to look away from the sleeping Levi, so when Levi began to wake and Eren didn't have an excuse for why he was doing that exactly, he just dumped a bunch of sand on Levi. Maybe he wouldn't be awake enough to realize that Eren was the one who had done it. He had originally planned to do the same to himself, blame the wind and then just stand up and dust the sand from his body while Levi did the same and no more questions had to be asked. Of course, it didn't work out for Eren so well, and Levi came back to full conscious as soon as the sand made contact with Levi's clothes. The two boys had looked each other for a moment before the chase began- Levi for revenge and Eren's for survival. They'd been running in an endless circuit of the beach for ten minutes and Eren was running out of steam fast.

'KEEP RUNNING, JAEGER." Levi ground out. "AND IT'LL BE WORSE WHEN I CATCH YOU."

"WILL IT REALLY BE ANY BETTER IF I STOP?" Eren yelled back over his shoulder. If he could just get to that boulder, he could run around to gain some momentum around the corner-

Levi slammed into Eren, dragging him down into the sand. The two tumbled across the surface of the beach, both yelling incoherently and trying their bests not to inhale sand. Eren couldn't figure out whether Levi was purposefully trying to Eren to consume it or not.

"So, Eren." Levi leaned in way too close, so close in fact that Eren became painstakingly aware of how close they were. Eren could feel the whisper of Levi's breath against his ear as he spoke. "Why'd you do it?"

"Because I thought it'd be funny?" Eren said, squirming and stiff, tension leaking through every muscle and bone in his body. Even the ones he used to smile.

"Is that so?" Levi pulled back to raise his brow at Eren.

"Yes, and since it clearly didn't play out how I thought it would, can you let me go now?"

"Not a chance," Levi said with a devilish smile and began his slow torture.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Levi-"

"Shut up, no more talking from you."

"Honey please, I don't want to fight in front of the kids." Though he meant it purely as a joke, Eren's heart jolted as he said the pet name. He tried not to think about for too long, seeing as he only had a two-second time span to do so, but nonetheless, he panicked so much it mas well have been two minutes.

"What, you have something you don't want to tell me?" Eren didn't catch the meaning or the look Levi was sending him. So, he could only stare back blankly while Levi rolled his eyes.

"You said, kids. I thought we only had one?'

"Oh- right, well. There is only one." The gears started turning in Eren's head. "But maybe there could be two?"

"You mean you want to adopt yet another son?" Levi said, brows raised.

"Or daughter? Well, I mean we could look around. It'd sure reel in some more attention for our rumour. I mean if you think about it, that's our real baby."

"Great, you know when I was younger I thought at this age I'd be doing something worthwhile with my life, but here I am starting a rock family with an idiot that finds amusement in dumping sand on me, and also having a fucking rumour as my baby."

"Yeah, well when I was younger I was hoping to have moved out and bought a whole tray of lollies. Namely jelly beans."

"Really? Jelly beans?"

"Hey don't judge me, Mr lime milk."

"That was terrible."

"Alright, how about this one- Mr Peppermint Lime who'll do anything for a dime-"

Eren didn't get to finish his sentence as Levi tackled him back down into the sand.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Alright, and I think that's it," Eren said, taking the last photo. The water lapped at his feet, and Eren grimaced as he felt the seawater soak his shoes.

"Cool, let's sit then. I think I fucking snapped my legs when I tackled you." Levi began walking, not waiting to see whether Eren was following or not. The brunette continued to look at the water however, smiling as the water continued to cover the letters, again and again, each time washing it away just that little bit more.

Eren made his way over to Levi finally, taking out his phone to check the time.

"Fuck, it's almost one in the morning!"

"That's okay." Levi shrugged, playing with a shell he'd decided at the last minute he didn't want to be whisked away by the sea. "Just means we'll need to catch up on some more sleep. Though it is past Carl's bedtime."

"Yeah. But hey, kids will be kids right?"

"Yeah," Levi smirked. The two boys continued to watch as their sentence was washed away, the 'forever and ever' being lapped over again and again by the small waves until it was nothing but a faint memory, a never forgotten engravement in the sand.

"Kids will be kids."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eren ducked, watching in amusement as the face towel soared over his head. There was a muffled cry as it landed on Sasha's face before the yelling started.

"Fuck Connie, where did you learn how to throw things? Because whoever it was needs to be fired."

"Tell that to my mother's face," Connie said, sticking his tongue out.

"She did not teach you that." Jean scoffed, turning back to his phone. Eren had been watching the teen all night, catching every single little look he sent Marco's way in the hopes to get the boy's attention. Though Jean would never admit it, he definitely had to have a thing for Marco. It was the only explanation.

Not that Eren was particularly happy that Jean was there, though. In fact, if it was up to him, Jean wouldn't have been invited in the first place. But as Sasha had organised and hosted the hangout, and as Jean was an honorary member, he was to be invited. Not to mention the fact that no one else had the sense to realize what an ass he was.

"No, but you know what she did teach me?"

"Clearly not to respect women." Sasha teased, standing up to make her way to the bathroom.

"Jokes aside, my mum has made it very clear that women are to treated like goddesses." Connie held his hands up in defence.

"As all you males should be doing," Mikasa smirked, continuing to draw on her knee with eyeliner. Eren elbowed his sister, feeling her sink into the beanbag trying to get away.

"No wonder you never do the dishes if you have that mindset."

"I do the dishes more than you, idiot." Mikasa smacked Eren lightly on the shoulder, looking down sadly at the line of eyeliner now strewn across her skin. "Great." She mumbled but didn't say anything directly to Eren.

"What song's on?" Armin asked from across the room, continuing to demonstrate something to Armin on his tablet.

'Glass Castle by The Female Titans, duh! How do you not recognize them? Sasha yelled from the bathroom, though her voice was probably loud enough she didn't have to raise it.

"Can we put something else on?' Jean muttered to himself. He looked as if he was going to say something to Marco, or even tap him on the shoulder seeing as they were sharing a beanbag. Oh, he was totally pissed if he wasn't in the mood to listen to The Female Titans.

"Ooh, Christa and Ymir are here!" Sasha squealed, darting through the room to the front door.

That was Eren's signal to get his phone out.

It wasn't that he didn't like meeting new people, he didn't mind it at all and even enjoyed it sometimes. But tonight, he was tired. Even though it was almost one in the morning when the tide finally came, he and Levi were in no rush to get home. They were already out late, a while longer didn't change much. They'd played for a little bit in the water before it got to be too cold and too high, so then they'd just chilled on a picnic bench for about half an hour before finally leaving. Eren had dozed off in the car, but if Levi had noticed he didn't say anything.

He'd crashed as soon as he was an inch away from the bed, and his neck was not feeling alright the next morning. He didn't wake up until two, and that was only because Mikasa had come storming in saying they were supposed to have left half an hour ago.

She was not happy to see that he had been sleeping rather than just taking forever to get ready.

He'd also heard a lot about the two girls who were arriving, courtesy of both his sister and Sasha, with a bit of input from Connie. None of the others in their group had met them. The most of what Eren had learned about the two girls was that they were dating, Ymir a hardcore lesbian while Christa was a soft pansexual, Ymir was slightly scary and had a really odd sense of humour, Christa was absolutely charming and sweet and you could talk to either of them about anything and everything would be chill. Even Connie had tested it when he'd told them both at the same time that he had a rat living in his pillowcase and he slept with it in there. While Ymir hadn't bothered to hide her disgust, they both gave him tips and ideas on how to make sure the rat was healthy and informed him that a pillowcase was not a good place for the rat to be living. When Connie confessed it was a lie, Ymir had taken it upon herself to punch Connie so hard in the shoulder, he hadn't been able to lift his bag up for a couple of days.

Eren heard a few muffled voices accompanied by Sasha's very eccentric one. The voices and footsteps came closer, and suddenly there was an eruption coming from Connie, Sasha, Mikasa and the two new arrivals. It was an array of heys and hurrahs and Eren found that he couldn't stay out of it any longer. So, Eren looked up from his phone and smiled, trying to be as welcoming as possible.

"Alright, so," Sasha said, and began pointing. "This is Marco, this is Jean." The two males sent smiles and waves. Sasha then turned to Armin. "This is Armin, the one who I'm one hundred per cent sure you're going to get along perfectly with," She finally pivoted towards Eren. "And this is Eren, the gay one." Even though Eren knew Sasha was just joking, it didn't stop the strange shock that coursed through his body.

"Cool," Ymir mused, nodding to Eren. "Us gays gotta stick together." Her pure tone told Eren enough that she got the joke.

"Yeah, of course." Eren laughed, not sure how real or how fake the smile on his face now was. "Good to meet you guys." Ymir just nodded once again before turning to talk to someone else, though Christa seemed to have a different idea.

"I've heard so much about you."

"I hope it's all good stuff." He wasn't sure how much longer he could keep this going.

"I told her your timing is terrible and you sneak out of school using Armin's SCAT badge at breaks," Mikasa said.

"But, she also told me," Christa continued as Eren glared intensely at his sister, "That you're loyal and have a great sense of humour." Ymir grabbed her girlfriend's hand subtly, and Christa glanced at Eren one more time before she turned back to the tall girl beside her. "So, mostly good things." Eren smiled tightly one last time before Christa was officially detached from the conversation. Eren let out a small sigh, returning to his phone. He liked Christa, definitely, and Ymir wasn't too bad either, but he couldn't stop hearing Sasha's words.

_And this is Eren, the gay one_.

It was something he'd been able to push back in the back of his head for a while, the words in that sentence. Sure he'd had thoughts, especially that night on the beach with Levi. And just about every other moment spent with the black haired boy, but that was beside the point. He still didn't know what to make of it all, whether it was actual feelings for Levi or hormones or some epic, homosexual awakening.

He didn't need to figure it out just then, though. No, it was definitely something that could wait. He had his entire life to figure it out, unlike his dozens of internals that were already beginning to pile up, along with his friendships that he had to keep going. Like the friendship with Levi.

Eren tried to tune out the giggling and hushed words that were being spoken next to him, but it was only so long that Eren could ignore it for. Eventually, Eren peeked over at whatever it was Mikasa and Sasha were talking about.

He regretted it the instant his eyes landed on the phone screen.

It was a guy, posing for the photo at a park. Even though not even an inch of skin was showing, the muscle could be seen rippling beneath.

"Isn't he so hot?" Sasha whispered, swiping across to access more photos just from different angles.

"Yeah, not the best but definitely not the worst." Mikasa agreed. "Who is it?"

"It's Reiner, one of Annie's boy toys."

"Boy toys?" Mikasa smirked. "Are you sure about that?"

"Well I mean she flirts with both him and Bertolt, I can only assume she's got a thing for both of them."

"I wouldn't call it flirting,"

"You wouldn't call anything she does flirting." Sasha dropped the phone into Mikasa lap going to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear and out of the way of her face. Eren blushed, not realizing how intently and just how long he had been looking at that picture for. The main reason though was the fact he found himself subconsciously and silently agreeing with the two girls beside him. He was attractive, but not the hottest.

He could name a particular someone who looked ten times better instantly.

But that was okay. Guys could recognize that another guy was attractive. Hell, girls commented on each other's asses so much and so often that they'd abandoned the phrase 'no homo' altogether.

"Why didn't you invite Annie, anyway?" Mikasa asked, handing the phone back over.

"She was busy with a wrestling thing, so I just didn't bother. I mentioned it's happening and she was cool with it." Eren tuned out of the conversation after that and instead took to looking around the room and at all his friends. Now that Armin was busy having a conversion with who appeared to be his new best friends, Marco had finally gotten the chance to snatch Marco's attention. _God, even when he's talking to him he doesn't drop the googly eyes_. Eren stood from his beanbag, stretching slightly. He'd been sitting for over an hour, and it wasn't doing him any favours.

"I'm getting some water, does anyone want anything while I'm up?" Instantly there was an influx of requests for snacks and drinks, so much so that Sasha offered to give him a hand. Eren only half paid attention to whatever it was Sasha was yapping on about, not really having the energy to invest himself in the topic-because that's what it was with Sasha' conversations, an investment.

"And then I went to-"

"Look, Sasha, girl I love you but I'm not following." He couldn't take it anymore. Luckily, Sasha took almost anything lightheartedly.

"Fair enough, I thought you looked a bit off." Eren opened his mouth to reply but quickly closed it. What would he tell her, anyway? He hadn't exactly broken the news to everyone that he'd stayed on the beach until two in the morning with Levi, mostly because he wasn't in the mood for questions. It would also help with the rumour if they thought that the has snuck behind their backs. Which was kind of what happened anyway, really.

But Sasha, Sasha was a bit different from everyone else. She really was the most chill person he knew save for Erwin and Levi. She'd always made gay jokes about Eren, and they both knew they were just that, jokes, but the fact that they could have been true... he was about to admit something he would probably regret when there was a rise in volume coming from the next room. Eren and Sasha gave each other confused looks before rushing back to the room they came from, glasses in hands.

The sight before them was odd, to say the least. Everyone was huddled around Connie's phone, shoving each other and looking over each other's heads to gain even a small peak at what on was on the screen.

"So... what did we miss?" Sasha asked, walking over to the group that had clustered. Connie didn't say anything, only gestured for Sasha to come around the back with everyone else. Sasha and Eren frowned at each other.

Eren hadn't been invited.

Sasha made her way over, and her face instantly flooded with understanding when she saw what it was. Then confusion flashed, along with... something else. Then Sasha looked up at Eren, and the look became as clear as day- understanding.

"Come on you lot, out with it." Eren mused, pushing down the panic that was growing in his chest.

"You've certainly been having a lot of fun," Jean smirked, quickly turning the phone to face Eren so that no one would object or stop him. Eren leaned closer to the photo and sighed silently in relief.

It was one of the photos from the night before- or rather the morning-, one of the shoots of their little sand art. The 'forever and always' was clear, the lines appearing darker than they actually were. _Cheater, you used filters_. Eren then looked at the caption, and couldn't help but smile slightly.

_Great night @JaegerJagger. Next time check the damn tide time_.

Eren laughed at the last line, turning the phone back to Connie. Instantly, everyone was on him. They began asking about when it was, what they were doing, what the caption meant and so on. Eren was as vague as he could be with the answers, making sure they were all half-assed and appeared secretive. They weren't supposed to think they were dating- not yet anyone. Confusion was the key, Levi had said. Just as the questions were getting difficult to avoid, a text appeared on Eren's phone.

_Hey, I felt bad about you having to post all the bad ones. I posted one of the sand ones before in case you would start being a humble, noble shit and beat me to it. You still have to re-post it though and tag me. Goodnight_.

Eren chuckled but didn't reply. He didn't need anyone to see that text, not when it would most definitely just raise more questions,

And as Eren continued to dodge and dive through the range of questions, Sasha just watched him. There was no accusation on her face or lips, no judgement or demand for answers. It was an assessing look, a look of support should he ever need it.

Eren looked away more often than not.


	29. Custody Wars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren makes a mistake that later results in a custody war

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is meh and feels like a filler, and for that I am sorry.
> 
> Hope you somewhat enjoy it!

"Fuck, the rain's ruining my hair."

"Don't be ridiculous, your hair was already ruined. I mean, have you seen your haircut?"

"Levi!" Eren made the mistake of shoving Levi slightly onto the road. The two stared at each other for a moment as they both took in Eren's mistake before Levi rammed back into Eren. He laughed, wincing as he rubbed at his ribs.

"Don't shove me," Levi growled, though it had no real bite to it.

"You're the one who insulted my hair!"

"I was just kidding, brat. I'm glad it's raining, makes all the idiots stay inside."

"Someone's in a bad mood."

"Did you not just hear me? I said-"

"Yeah yeah, I heard what you said." Eren fiddled with Armin's SCAT badge, watching as the small raindrops slid off the smooth surface. "Connie keeps asking for professional family photos with us and Carl- I think we're gonna have to give in to the audience's demand." Levi snorted.

"Yeah, no. Connie can go and-"

"Jeez rainy days really do bring out some other part of you don't they." Eren laughed, cutting off his friend.

"Shut up," Levi grumbled, shoving his hands into his pocket. Eren continued laughing quietly to himself as the two walked along the footpath that would soon lead them to the supermarket. It had been a while since they'd last been able to do it, and on a day so cold it would be the perfect time to go and get something that would heat them up. The two had originally planned on sitting in the warm sushi shop across the road, however the realization that they were just a pair of poor high school students put them off the idea.

"Can I please put him with the rock melons?" Eren asked after a while spent in silence. "He should be with his cousins."

"Eren, no. And if I catch you doing it I swear to God-"

"You'll replace my head with a rock-melon?"

"I was going to say I'll snatch your SCAT badge and make sure we get caught so you are seen sneaking out without a one, but that works too." Eren rolled his eyes in response.

"Look, you can put him with the potatoes instead. Then, at least he'll be surrounded by softies."

"You are one great father," Eren said, eyeing up Levi approvingly.

"Thanks. Remember to take photos though- but not in places we can be caught. I don't want any company from anyone."

"Roger that." Eren saluted to which Levi rolled his eyes at.

The two entered the store, already looking out for any possible teachers on the prowl. Since the first time it had happened, neither boys were willing to take that risk again.

"Hey," Eren whispered to Levi.

"What?"

"We should totally take a photo of him in a shopping trolley."

"We'll obviously get kicked out, you dumbass."

"Not if we don't get caught" Eren flashed a wicked grin and Eren, and Levi couldn't stop an identical one form spreading over his face.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eren snuck the small chocolate bar into Levi's hands, giving the dark-haired boy an innocent smile when he glared.

"A gift" Eren purred, turning back to the self-service machines in front of them. Levi didn't try and give the chocolate bar back to Eren and didn't say anything either. Eren couldn't help but look down at his feet as a smile crawled onto his face.

The two were able to buy their food with no trouble, save for the small cue Eren had built up because he couldn't find his ten cent coin. Really, where were they when you needed one?

Eren put his chocolate bar into his pocket after thanking Levi, his heart stopping dead. He felt around in his pocket just to make sure, then dug through the rest of them before his heart was now in full gear, racing along for its life.

"Uh, Levi. Do you have Carl?"

"No," Levi narrowed his eyes at Eren, "Why?"

"I was just wondering because, I um... I don't have him."

"You lost our son?" Levi hissed, stopping dead in his tracks. "Where did you leave him?"

"I don't know!" He was really panicking now. "I couldn't have dropped him, I would have noticed right?"

"I'm not sure, you didn't seem to realize when you fucking lost him." Levi ran a hand through his hair, Eren's attention snagging on the small action. "But you're right, we would have noticed. Or heard it, at least." Levi looked back at the way they'd come. Eren's heart dropped a second time.

"There is no way we can just go back- the bell's about to ring. We'll be late."

"You're right." Levi patted Eren on the shoulder and continued walking. "You're the one who lost him, you can go back and find him."

"What, no! He's your kid as well."

"He's a rock, we can just find another one. And need I remind you who lost him again?"

"No, we can't replace him when he's got that cute little face."

"It is a horrific face." Even resorted to looking at Levi with a pleading look, sticking his bottom lip out sightly. It worked, and Levi sighed as he began stomping back over to Eren.

"Fine, we'll find Carl. Where do you think you last left him?"

"I really don't know, but we could check the rock melons first?"

"And why is that?" Eren paused, shrinking back slightly at the utterly done look on Levi's face.

"Because I let him play with the rock melons and may have taken a few photos of him with them," Eren admitted, biting his lip. Levi threw his hands in the air while looking incredulously at Eren. Rather than saying anything, he simply stormed off towards the supermarket.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Well, he wasn't by the strawberries, or the lemons or the grapes," Eren said, still constantly scanning the supermarket.

"He wasn't with the apples or blueberries either," Levi mumbled, doing the same as Eren.

"Well, what next then?" Eren was no stranger to panic and pressure, hell, he endured it pretty much every day since year twelve had began. But seeing Levi, _Levi_ who was usually so calm and collected, even slightly frazzled was just adding to his own nerves even more.

"Next, we check the deli."

"Already looked."

"Let's look again then."

"I looked like three times."

"Were they man looks?"

"Duh, I am a man afterall." Levi looked unamused at Eren. "Yes, Levi, I did look properly. No baby rock child."

"Stop saying that- just choose one, baby or child."

"But he's both-"

"Shut up. Wait. Pass me your phone." Eren passed it over, confused when Levi rolled his eyes.

"What?"

"Unlock it, dipshit." Eren did so and handed the phone back. He watched cautiously as Levi tapped and flipped through whatever it was he was flipping through and sighed in relief when Levi seemed to have found what he was looking for.

"At least there's an upside to your obsession with our rock son," Levi said, now holding out the phone so that Eren could see what he had been doing. "You never stop taking pictures of the damn thing." Eren nodded slowly, ignoring the possible insult that was embedded in Levi's words.

"Right, so we just have to backtrack to where I was when the photos were taken."

"Smart boy," Levi said, returning the phone.

"Why don't you just hold it?"

"Because it's not my phone. It's like an invasion of privacy."

"You literally just look my phone before and looked through it without a second thought or any hesitation."

"That's because it was important and I was in a hurry. We still are, so quit fucking around." Now it was Eren's turn to roll his eyes, and they set off in the direction of their first location.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Oh thank god that's over," Levi said, readjusting his shoulder strap. "I am never allowing you to be an actual parent. Ever."

"Uh first, rude, and second I would be a great dad. At least I love my children." Eren huffed, holding Carl closer to his body. Of course, the rock had been in the last place both Eren and Levi had thought to look, and of course, it was in the very back of the supermarket. Carl was still cold to the touch from being in the freezer so long.

"He doesn't have any milk on him does he?" Levi side glanced at the rock.

"No, but I'm pretty sure that ice set his face in. I guess now we don't have to worry about it falling off."

"Seriously Eren? It's probably more likely to fall off now. Doesn't matter I guess, that's what plastic surgery's for anyway.

"More like concrete surgery." Eren joked, clicking his fingers at his friend. Levi stopped dead in his tracks and just stared at Eren, long and flat. Full of disappointment and unamusement.

"No."

"Oh come on, that was pretty good wasn't it?"

"No, it wasn't." Levi then walked over to Eren and pried Carl from his hand.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

"Well, since you clearly can't be trusted with our rock son," Levi started with a pointed look at the brunette, "And you make terrible jokes, I'm going to be looking after him until you can prove to me you're a fit father."

"Levi, come on man don't do this."

"Well maybe if you hadn't made such a shit joke." Levi began walking off, not even a hint of a goodbye forming on his lips. Eren hated that he couldn't halt the smile that forced is way onto his face.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It shouldn't have been bothering him as much as it was. If he were anyone else, it probably wouldn't matter. If he were anyone else, he wouldn't have noticed the gaping hole in his pocket, nor how it didn't sag slightly at every moment and movement.

But he wasn't any other person, he was him.

And he desperately wanted that rock Levi was tossing in the air back.

"Alright, so what colour do you want?" Levi asked, crossing something out with clean-cut precision.

"Um, I don't mind. White."

"Eren how on earth can you have white writing on white paper?"

"Oh, shit sorry. I wasn't paying attention." He still wasn't, not when Carl was tempting him. Fortunately, Levi seemed to catch on fairly quickly and stopped his tossing.

"Eren, seriously. I don't want to be the only one putting in all this effort for the presentation thing. I only accepted it so that we would be able to add some gasoline."

"But we already have," Eren tore his gaze away from the rock, "With the beach photos." _Although it wasn't only the rumours we added fires to._

"Yes, but we need the next thing." Levi leaned forward, holding steady eye contact with the male in front of him. "It'd be a bit off if we only have big romantic gestures now isn't it? We have to be consistent." It took everything to keep his attention and gaze purely on Levi's eyes.

"Right. So, aside from this do you have any ideas?" Relief flooded Eren when Levi finally leaned back again.

"Not really. I was hoping that you would." Levi paused for a moment, frowning down at the paper in front of him.

"Green," Eren said suddenly, remembering their conversation. "Make my text green." Levi nodded and noted it down.

"I think this is up to you," Levi said again, pausing to look up at Eren. The brunette frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you have a shit ton of friends while I have significantly less."

"You're friends with them too-" Eren started, but Levi was quick to cut him off.

"I wouldn't say we're friends. Maybe Armin could be considered one, but he still acts like a deer in headlights when I start a conversation with him." Heat flashed. Oh, yes. Armin was indeed still slightly terrified of Levi as he'd expressed to Eren on many occasions. There was nothing like the guilt that had clawed at Eren's heart when he felt relief once Armin had told him. That same feeling was present now.

"Right. Anyway, what can I do?"

"Tell people, make subtle jokes and drop subtle hints that something aside from friendship could be going on. Say that we're hanging out."

"And then what?"

"We'll hang out, take photos, video chat them et cetera et cetera. Anything that will get the rumour circulating."

"I don't know man, aren't we supposed to be spreading it around everywhere, not just my friends?"

"Well yeah, but having your friends be confused about it makes it even more effective. Besides, you're just messing with them." Levi watched Eren for a moment. "If you're not up for this, we don't have to do it. I just thought it might be something fun to do. I'm not going to peer-pressure you into anything." He was too nice. Far too nice. So nice, Eren melted just a bit at the tone in Levi's voice. Eren shook his head.

"No, I want to do this. You're right, my friends need to be apart of this. So," Eren sat up a bit straighter. "Marco was planning a study session for bio and the other sciences I think, I haven't told him whether I'm going or not. I'm pretty sure everyone is going so I can tell him I have something else on."

"Then we hang out and post the photos or something," Levi said nodding, smirking slightly. "Nice thinking, Jaeger." Eren's heart quickened at it.

"Thanks, Levi."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Thank you guys so much for doing the presentation," Armin said, taking his SCAT badge back from Eren.

"All goods, it was actually kind of fun." He lied. No, it was the absolute opposite of fun. He and Levi had argued over who had to do which parts of the talking and how much, Levi eventually winning which meant Eren wound up doing ninety per cent of the talking. In return, Levi ended up writing ninety per cent of their little script.

"I just have to ask though," Armin looked around nervously, actively avoiding eye contact with Eren. He managed to keep his amusement hidden and small smile at bay.

"Yeah?"

"Were you a bit nervous up there? It'd just I know that you don't have much problem with public speaking and whatnot, but you were really close to Levi and you kept giving him these helpless looks and I just thought that maybe-"

"Armin, Armin." Eren held his hands up to interrupt his friend. "It was fine, I was just stressing because I had an internal in the first period."

"Did I-"

"No, you didn't stop me from studying. I'd already studied last night, I was just overthinking it. But yeah no, everything's all goods." Eren gave Armin the thumbs up which seemed to relax the blonde boy.

"Okay."

"Oh speaking of Levi, could you please tell Marco I can't make it to our study thing on Saturday? I've got a thing with Levi."

"So you won't be coming to it at all?" Armin frowned. "It's an overnight thing, isn't it? 24-hour study session?"

"Yeah, but our thing will take a long time and I don't think I can handle it." Eren lied smoothly, wondering how guilty he should be feeling about it.

"You can just go to sleep early, no one will blame you for it or force you to stay awake."

"I think Jean would have a different idea. Everything has to be a competition with that guy."

"Yes, a lot like someone else I know," Armin mumbled pointedly. Eren ignored it.

"I'll come next time." He promised. "This is just really important."

"Yeah no, it's fine. I'll let him know." Armin said, waving his friend off.

"Thanks, Armin, you're the best," Eren said, clasping Armin on the shoulder.

"I know." Armin rolled his eyes with the slightest of smiles. "Now, let's go get your son back."

It had been eating away at him for the past couple of days, not having Carl in his possession. Yes, he was just a rock, but he was also so much more than that. He was a shred of responsibility in his life, a small silly thing that had entered it. It also tied Eren to Levi in a way, made him remember what they were doing and reminded him to keep up the act. Reminded him to touch Levi a bit more often than would be necessary or casual, reminded him to drop those subtle hints and to be caught sending Levi texts that could mean many other things. Today was the day though, the day Levi would finally give Eren Carl back to have in his possession. If he could convince him, of course. He had Armin to speak for him if things did go awry.

It took a little while to track down Levi, who was in the company of Hanji and Erwin. Hanji was dancing around Levi like it was nobody's business, while Erwin was off to the side paying no mind to it all. The book in his hands had taken him someplace far away.

Eren and Armin approached, and Levi seemed insanely thankful when they came into view. Until Eren started speaking.

"I want custody of our son back." Eren declared, slamming a fist on the grass in front him after dropping to the ground.

"What do you mean, brat?"

"He means," Armin stepped in, as he and Eren had agreed, "That he misses Carl like a little bitch and wants him back in that stuffy pocket of his." Eren stared open-mouthed at his friend.

_Well, that wasn't a part of the agreement._

Seeing the shock on Eren's face at Armin's chosen words, Levi smirked. Hanji had also begun to laugh, not slowing down in her pace. Eren wondered just how long it would take for Levi to snap and make her stop, with whatever means necessary.

"At least you put it bluntly. Though, Eren, I don't believe I can quite trust you with our son yet. I mean, you did leave him in a fridge for half an hour."

"You did what?" Hanji said, breathless from either the prancing or the laughter Eren didn't know.

"Yes, I left him in the fridge. An easy mistake."

"I don't think that would win you any favours in court."

"Well good thing we're in a shitty seventy-year-old school then, not a court. Please, Levi, I miss him so much."

'Eren, babe, it's a rock." Eren's train of thought crashed and burned, then went over the end and splashed right into a vast ocean of a void filled with nothingness. There was nothing going on on his brain anymore, nothing he could think to say or argue or claim. Levi had called him babe. Called him babe as if it were nothing as if it were a real nickname that was something they shared-

"A rock that means a lot to him," Erwin said, looking Eren up and down. He finally managed to snap out of whatever daze he was in, and put himself back in the conversation.

"Yeah, and he's my kid, really. I found it." Eren looked over quickly at Erwin, trying to convey as much gratitude as possible. Erwin nodded slightly, more an inclination than anything. He'd noticed Eren's short little power cut, and had stepped in to help. Why? Eren had repeatedly asked Levi whether Erwin and Hanji knew about what was going on between them, but each time he had denied it. He still hadn't figured out why the two had never said anything or acted indifferently about anything he and Levi did.

"I did help raise him, idiot. And I dressed him with his... face."

"Don't insult your own child right in front of him like that. Two points to me."

"First, why the points and second, no points are needed."

"How about you two play it out? You know, have a little competition to see who gains custody of the rock baby child." Hanji chirped, now hopping.

"Ah ha, see! It is a rock baby child. Suck on that Levi," Eren said triumphantly. He faltered though, at the eyebrow raises Levi sent his way. A blush crept onto Eren's cheeks.

"Yeah, Levi!" Hanji shouted in return. Levi had had enough, it seemed, as his hand shot out to grab Hanji's ankle. If her reflexes hadn't been so good, she would have fallen face first into the ground.

"Alright then," Levi said, a manic smile on his face. "We'll play a game. A good old-fashioned round of ninja tag."

"Ooh, great idea!" Hanji beamed, already slipping out of Levi's tight grip. "Come on Erwin, up you get."

"I'll pass, thanks."

"Me too," Armin nodded his head, making his way over to Erwin. The two smiled rather fondly at each other, suspicion rising in Eren.

"If this is a between you guys and your... rock, child, thing, this keeps the game between yourselves."

"Oh no, it doesn't work like that." Hanji sang, taking the hands of the two blonde males. "You two have to take part otherwise there are not enough players."

"They really don't have to play-" Eren started.

"Of course they have to Eren." Hanji cut him off and yanked up her two friends. Soon enough, they were all in a circle.

"Don't worry, I'll get you out. Just make sure you get Erwin." Eren muttered to Armin, who returned Eren a small thankful smile.

"Alright, and go." The group collectively chanted the words 'ninja tag' before springing backwards, far away from each other. Armin was just out of reach from Eren, maybe even a bit too far to get out in his first run. Armin also had to get Erwin, who was even further away. Hiding away from the action. Great, now I have to get even further away from Levi. For fuck's sake.

"I'll go first," Hanji announced, already making her move as she said it. The loud girl first struck out at Levi, attempting to slap his hand onto another planet by how hard her hand came down. Levi dodged easily enough though, jumping as far away from Hanji as his short legs could manage. The short boy then moved, striking out with his foot to get Hanji out of the game. She managed to dance away with whatever gift or skill it was that she obtained. Eren went next, leaping towards Armin. Armin then leapt for Erwin, however due to his lack of physical activity habits, he didn't quite make it. Armin looked back apologetically at Eren who just smiled back. Erwin seemed to have caught on and jumped over to Armin with as much enthusiasm as a grape.

The rounds continued, Erwin finally getting out due to Armin tapping him gently on the hand, then Armin walking away once Eren had tapped his shoe slightly with his own. Eren glanced over at the two losers, happily reading and talking quietly amongst themselves. He turned back to the game, grinding his teeth. Levi and Hanji were battling it out, trying desperately to get each other out. Eren left them to it, not wanting to take the risk of getting involved. If Hanji won their little squabble, then Eren would get the rock back regardless whether he or Hanji won the overall game. Luck wasn't on his side however, and Hanji slipped up when going for Levi's fingertip. Levi was too fast for her to follow as he slapped her hand perhaps a bit too harshly than was necessary.

And so the true game began.

"I'd watch your step if I were you," Eren said, trying his best to provoke Levi.

"Likewise, brat." Eren glared playfully. He and Levi both knew that Levi didn't care for rock at all, and only wanted Eren to suffer. Well, two could play at that game. He was going to win and watch Levi suffer the defeat. Eren lunged for Levi, though not getting close enough that Levi would undoubtedly be able to reach him. Then Levi jumped, hand already outstretched. Eren would have been fooled if he hadn't caught the slight twitch in Levi's leg before he made his move. Eren thrust both his arms and legs backwards, narrowly missing Levi's attack. Perfect, Levi was caught off guard by Eren's quick manoeuvre, and if he could just pull it off-

Eren leapt once more, hand out to quickly smack against Levi's. But then Levi brought his hand to his face, causing Eren to change his direction last minute in the air. He let out a hoot as his hand came into contact with Levi's, smiling down at his friend smugly.

"Take that." He said. Levi didn't reply though, which brought Eren back to the present of the situation.

He was so close to Levi. So insanely close. Their breaths mingled, both panting from the number of jumps and leaps and strikes and slips they'd endured. All for the possession of a rock, a rock that they had built together. Eren's eyes darted to Levi's lips for a moment, trying to make the quick small slip of his attention look as if it were done on purpose, trying to learn how to breathe again. This was a perfect moment to add just a little bit of gasoline to the fire that was their rumour. Armin was there, as were Hanji and Erwin and dozens of others who were either seated around in close proximity or walking past. Eren was the first to pull away, looking quickly over at their other three friends. Though Erwin was still paying no mind to their closeness, and Hanji was too preoccupied with whatever it was she was doing, Armin had certainly noticed. Though the boy thought he was hiding it, the gears were certainly turning in his head no matter how tired he was trying to hide it. Eren marched over to where Carl lay on the top of Levi's bag and smiled down at the rock when he reached it.

"Son, how I have missed you." Eren scooped the rock up in both hands, holding it high in the air as he called out to his friends.

"Got my baby back!" Levi rolled his eyes with a small smile, and Eren at that moment knew that it would never be a sight that got old.


	30. Study Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Study, cookie baking, Eren's an idiot when it comes to kitchen things, I'm tired, and Mikasa and Levi still don't have a liking for each other. 
> 
> And here comes the slight homo train.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> H ah I'm going to completely re-wire a part of the plot thanks to an epiphany of ideas I had last night. Hooray!
> 
> Double update again, because the other one was was crappy and I don't want to go to bed :')
> 
> I like this one slightly more, I hope you enjoy!

"This is the absolute worst," Eren complained, chucking a pillow at Levi.

"Quit whining." Levi didn't look up from his laptop, but a frown was now neatly settled on his face. Though he assumed it was meant to look intimidating, Eren couldn't help but find it slightly adorable.

"I didn't cancel my study thing with Marco and co. just to have another study session with you. You said we'd be cookie baking!"

"And we will be, just as soon as we finish our homework. Just because we're hanging out for the rumour doesn't mean we can't spend it wisely."

"Fine, but if we don't end up making the cookies we're gonna have a real problem."

"Don't worry, I already told Izzy we'd be making them. I used them as a bribe so that she'd leave us alone."

"You never want her to hang out with us, do you?"

"It's not that," Levi huffed, "I just don't want her catching us doing anything for the rumour and then taking it the wrong way."

"What, is she homophobic or something?"

"No, none of my family are. My close family, anyway. They all know I'm bi and they don't care." The words clanged through Eren.

He'd never mentioned that before. The fact that he was bi. Eren quickly shut his mouth. Well, though it was certainly a good thing to know, it didn't help with his little fantasy problems. Now they were justified.

"That's cool," Eren said with an awkward nod and resumed filling out the sheet before him.

_Write a word equation for photosynthesis._

Eren groaned again, however refrained from tossing his pen away.

"What's wrong this time?"

"Everything," Eren growled, beginning to write out the equation.

"You don't seem to enjoy biology, like at all. Why did you even take it?"

"Because I'm semi-okay at it and my dad's all into biology."

"So I've heard."

"Right. Forgot he got to you."

"Talking to him really isn't all that bad, you know."

"Well yeah because _I_ can tell him when he needs to shut up, but for others, it's a nightmare."

"I can't imagine Armin finding it a nightmare, especially when you're dad studied all three sciences in university and Armin is science's own personal bitch."

"It was even more than three," Eren muttered again, but focused on his homework once more. Levi seemed to have the same idea, and so no more was said between them for a further half an hour. Surprisingly Levi was the one to break it, and the two made their way down the stairs. They'd been studying too long, he'd claimed, and the time for baking was then. Just as the two began to make their way down the hall, the sound of the front door opening and closing could be heard. Levi frowned, slowing slightly.

"What's wrong?"

"Farlan shouldn't be home until six, and we just passed Izzy's room and she's definitely in there." Levi then picked up speed again, though cautious. His worries were put to rest, however, when they ran into Levi's mother.

"Oh, bonjour maman." Eren glanced quickly at Levi, hearing the French catching him off guard. Levi had mentioned that he spoke French through no small impressment from Eren, but hearing him use it... well, it was kind of hot, to say the least.

In the most no-homo way possible, of course.

"Bonjour. Où se trouve-" The woman cut off her sentence when she beheld Eren.

"Maman, this is Eren. I told you he would be coming over for the night."

"Yes yes, I remember." She smiled at her son before turning to face the male beside her son. "So you're Eren."

"Yep, that's me. Eren." Levi smacked Eren's arm out of his mother's sight. Eren took a mental note to get Levi back for it later. Perhaps while they were making the cookies.

"I'm Kuchel, Levi's mum as you could probably tell." Eren nodded kindly, shaking the woman's hand. _God, he looks just like her_.

"We were just about to make cookies. Izzy had a rough day."

"Is she okay?" Kuchel frowned. _Man, even the frown is almost identical_ -

"She's fine now, just tired. In her room. Farlan's out to get something."

"Yes, he told me. Alright then, I'll leave you two to it." She smiled at Levi and then Eren, before making her way around them. Levi looked back, causing Eren to do the same. The two of them watched silently as she knocked on Isabel's door and slipped in. Without another word, Levi led them down the hall into the kitchen.

"You're mum's wonderful," Eren said, already heading for the fridge to grab the ingredients.

"The best," Levi said, though it was clear he was distracted.

"What's up?"

"Nothing, I'm just not feeling that well."

"Oh, I can go home-"

"No, I don't feel sick. Just a bit dead from all the study probably. Just grab the ingredients." Eren didn't push Levi any further and did as he was told.

The baking session was rather standard, though not boring at all. Nor was it uncomfortable. The small patch of awkwardness quickly faded away as the two tossed flour at each other, made shapes out of the mixture while the other guessed what it was (Levi could never be seen to decipher what it was Eren had made) and as the casual conversation took over.

"You see it right?" Eren laughed, savouring every single string of laughter that came out of Levi's mouth.

"Yes, he is so in love with him. I took a picture of your face with a suggestive caption, but all I could notice in the background was Jean just giving Marco that look. Priceless." The two continued to laugh, and Levi leaned over to check the cookies inside the oven. Eren bit his lip at the new view available to him, however was able to manage not taking that leap. Not just yet anyway. Having these feelings and thoughts was like having a superpower you couldn't control.

Though Eren doubted being gay was a superpower.

"They'll be done soon, I think." Levi straightened back up and leaned into the corner of the bench. Once again, Eren had to actively keep his eyes from going towards Levi's exposed arms. "So why do you hate Jean anyway? Did something happen?"

"Well, kind of. I mean, do I really need a reason? He's an asshole."

"He's been decent to me." Levi looked pointedly at Eren, clearly not satisfied with the brunette's answer. Eren let out a long, drawn-out sigh.

"Fine, yeah- he's an ass. He tried to go out with my sister-"

"Why? Who would want to go out with that demon?"

"Why do you have to hate her so much?" Eren pouted, but Levi's raised eyebrow told him enough of the reason why. She'd been an asshole when they'd first met, which was...valid, he supposed.

"Jean."

"Right, horse-face. So in year nine, we were all goods and in the same tutor, and everything was fine. But then-" A loud bang from the front of the house rang through the air, and Levi was already on the move.

"Hold that story," Levi yelled over his shoulder. Eren stood there awkwardly, not knowing what to do. He was alone in Levi's kitchen. _Great. God, what if his mum appears and tries to talk to me? I don't know what to talk about-_

Then the beeper starting going off from the oven, and Eren's panic just grew even more.

"Uhhhh..." Eren splayed his hands out, trying to figure out what to do. Well, first he had to turn off the timer. That much was obvious. Eren followed the sound of the constant beeping to just behind where Levi had been standing and turned it off with minimal difficulty. _Alright, now to check the cookies..._ Eren began to look for the oven-glove when he heard Levi and Farlan's voices.

"Thanks for helping, I didn't realise how heavy the boxes were all gonna be."

"It's fine," Levi grunted, and the two brothers came into the room. Eren and Levi made eye contact, and the taller of the two smiled hesitantly.

"Hey, Levi."

"Hey... I heard the timer go off, are the cookies done?"

"Uh, I haven't checked them yet." Eren pointed his hands in opposite directions. "I was just looking for the oven glove." Levi rolled his eyes, though not in an insulting way.

"You go help him, I've got it from here." Farlan said, already reaching for the boxes that were in Levi's hands.

"Are you sure? I can take them the rest of the way. Or you could just make two trips."

"No, I've got it. Besides, if those cookies are even the slightest bit burnt Isabel will notice." Farlan smiled at Eren, which was the first time from what he could recall. Eren returned the gesture before resuming his search for the glove. He finally found it and made his way to check on the cookies.

"No no no, Eren you idiot you're gonna burn yourself." Levi rushed into the kitchen, adjusting Eren's arm slightly so it wouldn't make contact with the oven's edge.

"Who designed your oven?" Eren joked, only then realizing just how far the edge of it jutted out.

"An idiot. Once Izzy burnt herself on her fucking shoulder. I don't want to have to explain to your parents that you burnt yourself on an oven"

"That is pretty lame," Eren admitted. He waited for Levi to pull away, to break the contact. But he didn't.

"Seeing as I now have to supervise you," Levi muttered and began to guide Eren through the process of checking on the cookies. Eren blushed, feeling almost as hot as the oven. Levi finally let go however, and Eren stepped away to give his friend room. The shorter male only had to look for a moment to check.

"I think they're ready to take out now." Levi nodded, stepping back.

"Great." Eren nodded. Levi continued to take them out and put them on a cooling rack.

Eren only wished that there was a cooling rack for the whole situation, and for his face.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"So how was the study thing?" Eren asked, lounging in the booth.

"Good, Armin successfully tutored us all in chemistry," Mikasa said, looking fondly at her blonde friend.

"Even those of us who don't take chemistry." Sasha chimed in, punching Armin very lightly on the shoulder.

"It's not like you guys had to listen, that was on you." He muttered, averting all eye contact. Eren smiled at his friend's misfortune.

"Yeah well, these fuckers will do anything to procrastinate." Mikasa rolled her eyes, giving a pointed look to Sasha who just shook it off.

"Anyway," Marco said, giving looks to both of the girls, "How did you guys go? Did you finish the English homework?"

"The English homework?" Eren scoffed. "Nope, didn't even look at it."

"He's lying, I helped him with it in return for him helping with something else." Levi cut in, shooting Eren a look that he couldn't quite decipher.

"And what was it he helped you with?" Mikasa asked with deathly calm, taking a bite of her pancake. _Dear God_ -

"None of your business, Ackerman."

"I think where my brother is concerned-"

"Well would you look at that, Jean, do you have chocolate sauce on your face?" Eren said far too loud to not be suspicious and an obvious diversion from where the conversation was going. While everyone else was preoccupied with looking at Jean's supposedly messy (who was now flushing with anger, quite the sight) Eren looked at both his sister and Levi incredibly. Mikasa only glared before turning back to the conversation Eren had started. Of course, she'd want to see Jean humiliated more than anything.

Levi held Eren's gaze though, almost daring him to say something else. Which he did, though through eye contact. They'd gotten pretty good at communicating with simple facial expressions.

_You could at least try to make an effort with my sister._

_I'll do it when she does it._

_Why do you have to be so difficult?_

_Why does she have to be such a bitch-_

"And that's enough Eren said out loud." Everyone looked at Eren with confusion.

"I mean, of looking at Jean- I mean just look at him, he's beet red!"

"I am not beet red." Jean ground out, still wiping off the imaginary sauce off his face.

"And just pick one," Sasha teased. "Are we looking at him or not." Eren just shook his head and leaned back. Crisis between Mikasa and Levi, averted.

The conversation continued on as normal for about half an hour, until Levi decided to spice things up.

Eren had been in the middle of talking with Sasha about the new season of Titan Shifters had come out when Eren knocked over his drink slightly. Before it could spill anything significant, Eren's reflexes had kicked in and he had saved the glass and milkshake inside. Levi had the same idea, however, and his hand also shot out to save the tipping glass. Eren dismissed it, despite his feelings of electricity flying between their skin. But then Levi had never removed his hand, had never broken the contact.

And Eren was weak, and Eren couldn't break the contact himself.

It was dumb and it was stupid, but Eren just enjoyed the feeling of Levi's touch so much that whenever it was engaged he just couldn't pull away. Like now.

Fifteen minutes later and it had escalated, their hands now intertwined thanks to Levi. Furthermore, the gesture was displayed to everyone as their hands were placed on the table, just by Eren's drink. _God, I hope my hands aren't sweaty_. _He would have pulled away by now if they were, surely_. They hadn't escaped Mikasa's attention though, either. And Eren couldn't help but think that it was because of her and Levi's little spat earlier was what drove Levi to take the action of holding his goddamned hand.

"Sasha," Mikasa turned to said girl. "Can you please come to the bathroom with me?" Eren had to stop himself from rolling his eyes. Mikasa absolutely hated how girls always went to the bathroom together, claimed that it was 'inconsiderate to start such a big line and make the bathrooms so crowded' and always finished her rant with 'Can't a girl pee in peace?' Sasha paid no mind to this however as she blindly accepted, and the two made their way off to the bathroom. Almost instantly, Levi dropped Eren's hand.

Although he had expected it, knew in a way that Levi was only doing it to piss off Mikasa, Eren couldn't help but pay attention to the pit in his stomach. But then just as Eren himself was going to excuse himself for the bathroom, Levi reached out and clasped Eren's hand again. Eren jolted, looking over at his friend. Levi wasn't looking at him, but rather down at his phone. Eren frowned slightly and looked around the table.

Bingo. Armin was looking over at the scene. Sure, Armin was smart enough to piece together that Levi was doing it to piss of Mikasa, but now he looked beyond confused as to why it was still going on even though she had gone.

Eren tried to make eye contact with Levi, just even a quick glance, but Levi was adamant on not making the eye contact.

So the group breakfast catch up continued, Mikasa and Sasha, returning not too much longer later. When Eren smiled at her sister, she didn't smile back.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Dude, you seriously need to stop fighting with my sister. It's super awkward for me."

"Well, maybe Mikasa should take a session from Isabel and learn how real good sisters act." Ere let out a bark of laughter at the pure sass that his tone was leaden with.

"Look, you know? I'll just stop mentioning Mikasa altogether,"

"Good, now pass me a cookie." Eren did so wordlessly, patting Carl's head.

"When do you think Erwin and Hanji will be here?" Eren said, popping a cookie of his own in his mouth.

"I don't know, you never know with those two. Especially Hanji, she's spontaneous as hell."

"As I've learned," Eren smiled. Levi didn't reply, and the two sat in silence. One of the things Eren was most grateful for, he'd come to realize, was the fact that these stretches of silence between him and Levi were comfortable. That he somewhat enjoyed them.

Then, wordlessly Levi stood. Eren paid it no mind, discarding it as if Levi were just simply going to grab something. But then there was a presence beside Eren and a whoosh of air. Eren already had his eyebrow raised in preparation to give to Levi.

"I was lonely over there." Levi huffed, returning to his phone once again. Eren continued to text Connie the notes from their English class.

A sudden weight was applied to Eren's shoulder, and he looked over slowly to find Levi's had dropped his head there. Right there, on his shoulder.

_Fuck_.

Instantly there were changes in his body. His heart was a horse, pounding in his chest. Heat flashed through his body, scorching his skin on the surface. He took a deep breath, hoping desperately that he didn't draw any attention to himself. Natural, he had to act natural and calm.

"You're warm." Levi murmured, snuggling closer to Eren.

His heart was actually going to explode.

"Thanks... I guess?"

"Yes. You're welcome." Levi looked up lazily at Eren, a blank expression as always. Levi did this often, would get close and act as if it were completely normal. And maybe it was to him, maybe he and Erwin and Hanji were just naturally touchy-feely with their friends, with each other. But Eren was not, and he and his friends only had what they called banter touches- which, the name is pretty self-explanatory.

Eren's eyes searched Levi's face, searched it for anything that might suggest the idea that Levi was having some sort of thoughts that weren't completely heterosexual. But Eren could find nothing, unless- _there_. That hint of a spark, that hint of emotion-

And then Eren was holding his breath, just taking in the sheer beauty of Levi's face. Every time they got close like this, Eren noticed something new every single time. And he knew this fact, had realised it over and over and told himself over and over, that it was something that happened, that it may mean something more than just the realisation how pretty, no, how _beautiful_ , Levi's face was. It wasn't like Mona Lisa worthy level, but it was pretty damn high up there. And then a lazy smile sided with the lazy tone of Levi's face, and Eren just simply lost all track of trains of thoughts. The station had been shut down, temporarily derailing any departures or travellings.

And then just like every other time, Levi pulled away before Eren could say anything, could do anything. The lazy grin was gone, the softness of his blank face lost to the past, and the weight and warmth and the sheer comfort of his presence were gone as he stood.

"Erwin's here."

"How do you know?" Eren asked, frowning as he also stood.

"His tires are massive." Then the two boys heard the door open, and Kuchel welcoming someone inside. Eren gave Levi an impressed look, and Levi just tapped the side of his nose knowingly. Eren trailed behind Levi, trying to wipe the memory of the closeness of Levi, as he had been trying to master ever since Levi had started touching Eren in private.


	31. Spontaneous

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our boys do some sporty things, driving and Levi's getting wandery.
> 
> (Sorry, I promise there's only like one more slow chapter after this and then we're getting to interesting/important stuff)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A wild unplanned but very necessary because I can't pace for shit and I'm hoping this fixes the timeline chapter appears!
> 
> You know it's been a long time since you've updated when you go to edit the next chapter, but while editing you're thinking 'hm, I'm sure I've already edited this.' but then you just think it didn't save and THEN you reach a sentence and think 'I remember changing this exact sentence and paragraph.' and then you realise you're a massive idiot and you've already not only edited it, but posted it as well. 
> 
> Sigh.  
> (Looking back properly now it was two chapters ago???? W h at ? ?)  
> (Looking back again I think I posted the chapters the wrong way around??? I'm a mess I'm so sorry-)  
> (Nope never mind I'm just an idiot who has a draft that needs to be deleted with the same chapter title.)
> 
> Sorry it's been so so so so SO super long since the last update, mentally I've been shit and I've been spending lots of time with my gram gram so I haven't been able to edit. And Voltron season 8 came out and if you watched it, it's pretty self expanatory- 
> 
> I'M SO BAD AT PACING????? Like it's taken a million chapters and we're just grazing the surface??? And like now everything's picking up??? I am so sorry for the pacing uGH.
> 
> Also, I'm editing this at 3 AM so I'm sorry if the second half isn't up to scratch. I don't really like this chapter but it's important for my pacing so :)  
> I'll shut up now-
> 
> Anyways, you came here to read so I hope you enjoy the chapter!

"Armin, you can't just hide from the ball." Eren ground out, eyes darting up to the clock. They were half an hour into the game and lunch, which meant they only had fifteen minutes left.

Fifteen minutes to get their team's score from 3 to 7 or more in order to win the game. No pressure.

"I know that." Armin huffed, wincing as a ball bounced at his feet. He picked it up tenderly.

"Then don't do it." Marco smiled, plucking the object from the boy's hands and hurling it across the gym. He cursed under his breath when it missed his target. 

"Next time." Eren nodded to him, then turned his attention back to Armin.

"You didn't have to play if you didn't want to. Dodgeball isn't exactly your strong point."

"Yeah, but we get the house points just for participating anyway."

"Since when did you care about the house competition?" Jean muttered, absolutely obliterating someone's shoulder as the ball hit its mark. He might have been an asshole, but damn could he play a good game of dodgeball.

"Because you guys care about it." Armin defended, once again narrowly escaping a ball.

"And the fact we wouldn't have had enough players without you. Thanks buddy." Eren smiled as he clapped Armin on the shoulder. He then turned back to focus on the game.

About half of the opposing team was benched. Probably the same amount of his own team were in the same position. If he got out then and had to join them, he'd most likely be there the rest of the game, maybe scraping in on the last five minutes. Everyone mutually agreeing that getting out and having to sit out for the rest of it was no fun at all, the rule was you would sit out for ten minutes before joining in again. Armin had spent his fair share of time on the bench, while Jean and Eren were still going strong with their bet on who could stay standing the longest. Connie and Marco had their occasional bench time- Marco making small mistakes and Connie just being reckless the whole time. A ball flew past Eren, the air caressing his face.

Eren slid to the side of the court, creeping right up to the line. There were four balls that he could send back, seeing as their small stash was depleting rapidly. Eren looked up, smiling when he saw a familiar face. It would have been more pleasant if a ball wasn't clutched in his hand.

"You still in? I thought your short asss would have been hit by now."

"Well, being tall just means you've got more of a chance of being hit. I mean, ten points if I get a headshot right?" Levi huffed, eyes scanning Eren's side of the court.

"Well, you don't really strike me as the sporty type."  _Aside from what you've got hidden under your shirt._

"I did take P.E last year, you know. And anyway," Levi fashed Eren a devilish grin. "You don't need to be sporty to play dodgeball. That's all skill."

"You told me Hanji forced you to play, didn't know you were so into dodgeball," Eren said curiously, throwing a ball behind him. "Did she want you to join because of your secret super dodgeball playing powers?"

"No, she just needs me to cover her ass when she's constantly on the bench." Levi rolled his eyes. Like Connie, Hanji was more than happy to risk it all.

Eren was ecstatic when the draw came out that their two houses would be playing against each other. He never thought Erwin and Levi would be convinced to play, but there they both were, still standing on the court.

"Well I've gotta say, you're certainly doing well."

"Better than you anyway."

"What are you-" A ball smacked into the front of Eren's forehead, sending his head snapping back. He heard a whoop from the back of the gym. When he looked over Levi's shoulder, stunned, he saw Hanji jumping on the spot.

"IT'S NOT PERSONAL EREN!" She yelled, already throwing another ball. Eren looked at Levi who was smirking.

"You did this on purpose!" Eren exclaimed. "You set this up?"

"You don't really believe that. I thought she still had another five minutes on the-" Levi's only warning was a victorious shout before a ball went smack into his shoulder.

"FUCK YEAH. TAKE THAT HANJI, AN EYE FOR AN EYE."

"JOKE'S ON YOU CONNIE, YOU HIT HIS SHOULDER NOT HIS FACE! YOUR LINE DOESN'T MAKE SENSE"

"Less yelling more throwing." The supervising teacher said off handidly, not really telling them off.

"Well, guess we're both off then." Eren laughed, walking off the court. Levi followed in suit, grumbling as he went. Eren and Levi joined the ends of their team's benches, staring at each other. Eren narrowed his eyebrows.

_This is your fault._

Levi copied Eren's expression. 

_My fault? You're the one who talked to me first._

_Yeah, but you distracted me._

Levi smiled.

_You're the one who got distracted. Guess I'm just too much for you._

Someone dropped beside Eren, and the brunette smiled when he discovered it was Armin.

"Hanji showing no mercy out there?"

"No, Erwin decided he was going to break our peace pact." He huffed, slumping. Eren chuckled before turning back to Levi, only to discover his face was blank, void of any kindness or humour that was previously there. Eren tilted his head.

_What's wrong?_

But Levi just stared at him, face unchanging.

"It's really creepy when you guys do that," Armin mumbled. Eren turned to hs friend.

"What?"

"That talking thing you do. When you just look at eachother. And like your hands twitch in symbols which makes it look like you're possessed. Seriously Eren, you might want to watch that or one day someone's gonna think you two are crazy."

"Oh." Eren blinked. He didn't really notice the symbols, didn't think they were odd... He turned back to Levi. His face had softened.

_You all good now?_

_I'm gonna kick your ass for getting me out._

Eren laughed, earning a couple of odd looks from the people sharing the bench.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I told you, technically you didn't win because I was distracted. It's like, you win by default."

"That's still winning." Jean ground out. "And besides,  _you got out,_ being distracted counts as that."

'Yeah, but-"

'Would you two shut up already? What we should really be talking about is how we got our asses handed to us." Connie mumbled, kicking a stone with probably just a little bit too much enthusiasm.

"Yes, thank you Connie!" Hanji chirped, and if Eren didn't know any better he'd say it was the happiest moment of her life.

"To be fair Amrin was hiding most of the time." Jean said.

"Leave him alone, we're lucky he played at all." Marco bumped their shoulders, and Eren had to contain his laughter as Jean looked away with tinted cheeks. 

"And besides," Eren cued in. "We're even because Erwin was equally hiding."

"I wasn't hiding, I was just taking my time."

"So, hiding." Levi rolled his eyes, accidentally bumping into Eren as he moved to avoid a tree. The two laughed. Everyone split off into their own conversations, the two boys included.

"So we still on for tonight?" Eren asked, kicking a rock back to Connie.

"Yeah, we've just got to be home a bit earlier than planned because I have to help Farlan move some stuff around in his room."

"Does that mean I'm on Isabel duty?"

"You bet, though I think she's got homework that'll keep her busy. You can probably just chill in her room and keep her company."

"She is the most childish fourteen year old I know." Eren smiled, looking down at Levi's hand swinging aimlessly. It was so close, he really could just reach out and grab it-"

"Yeah well, I just think she's afraid of growing up. I mean, look at Farlan and me. We're both sad, quiet depressed emo pieces of shit according to a lot of people."

"I wouldn't say Farlan quite fits that description, but oh well. You on the other hand..."

"Asshole." Levi rammed into Eren, causing their hands to brush against each other. Eren laughed before his breath caught in his throat.

It wasn't like there were fireworks or anything special, they held and touched hands all the time for multiple reasons, but when they weren't doing it for a purpose, when it was something even such as an accident... well, it felt different. He felt childish, perhaps even more so than Isabel was.

"Alright, well I mean it's not like I don't like her at least. I mean, she's not you but she's pretty great."

"You're the worst, you know that right?" Eren smiled down at his friend.

"So I've heard."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eren hopped from one foot to the other, looking around for Levi. He was late, though that was to be expected. They weren't even in any rush, but Eren couldn't shake the feeling spreading through his body. What it actually was for he couldn't put a name to, but it was there. And it wasn't leaving anytime soon. Maybe it was the fact what they were going to do wasn't exactly legal. Eventually Levi did appear, car keys already in hand. 

"You ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be."

"I'll drive us there- why are you being so jumpy?" Levi frowned at Eren, hand halting on the door handle.

"I don't know, might just be worried we'll get caught." He shrugged.

"Eren we're going to a remote street right by my house. I've been on my restricted for months now so there's really no danger. But if you don't want to do this, we don't have to. I'm just trying to help you with-"

"No no, I want to."  _Damn you for being so considerate._ "I don't know, it's just something stupid."

"If it's making you-"

"It's not, I'm fine. Let's just go." Eren waved Levi off, and without giving himself a chance to change his mind he hopped in the car.

"Alright then," Levi mumbled, and followed suit.

It only took about half an hour to get to Levi's street, though it felt like longer. The two hadn't said much, just asking about how their fifth period classes had gone. Someone's there was just nothing to be said, sometimes the silence needed a chance to speak- and Levi understood that. It was one of the reasons Eren felt so comfortable in the silences. They weren't awkward or an excuse, they were just silences. A time when they could just enjoy the presence of a close friend. Though Eren felt as if he thought they might be something more at times. 

"Alright, swap time." Levi declared when they were parked on the side of the road.

"Are we going around or just- Okay and that answers my question." Levi was already halfway across the seat before Eren had a chance to finish his sentence.

"Come on, up you get." Eren complied, and the two swapped seats.

"Alright, so as a disclaimer is if crash your car-"

"You're not going to crash my car."

"No like seriously I'm surpised you're even offering this to me I-"

"No, you're not going to crash because if you crash this car, I will skin you alive."

"Jesus Levi!"

"Jesus won't save you. Just take it slow and watch what you're doing. If you need me to take the wheel just lean back so I can actually reach it. These short fucking arms aren't doing me any favours."

"They're not that short." Eren pointed out.

"You wont be saying that if I need to grab the wheel and can't reach. Anyway, start it up. I haven't taken the keys out."

"Okaayyy, let's go then." Eren took a deep breath before putting the car into drive. 

It wasn't that he couldn't drive, he'd had plenty of practice with his parents and Mikasa. Even if they weren't the most... beneficial instructors. 

His dad had a slight short fuse, not understanding why Eren would feeze up everytime he made a mistake. His mother was always scared for her life despite the fact that she claimed he was doing great, and Mikasa was just brutal. Utterly brutal. Eren had already made up his mind beforehand that he was going to get professional lessons, but his decision was finalized after those lessons with his family. Then when he was asking Levi for recommendations, the male had offered to teach Eren himself. He still recommended the professionals, but the more practice he got the more he could learn. So Eren had agreed, if only to see how far the two could get.

"How long do you have to indicate before you can do something?" Levi asked as they approached a small rundabout. 

"Levi how do you think I passed the theory test, I already know-"

'Just answer."

"Three seconds."

"Good. Now if you're going straight through, how do you indicate?"

"Levi-"

"Answer."

The process continued, Levi asked Eren the theory questions as they approached them in practical. At first Eren found the questions stupid, tedious, but as they went on he reaised that it was actually hlping him. It solidified that he knew for sure what he was doing before he did it, not having a chance to second-guess himself as it had been drilled into him.

"You're too far to the right."

"I know."

"You need to straighten up."

"You're not helping."

"I'm not trying to, I'm just telling you what you're doing wrong."

"You know what I mean."

"Look, just move a bit more to the center. You've got the entire road for now, I chose a quiet street for a reason. If you go a bit off you'll be fine, you can just try again."

"You're a lot calmer than any of my family." Eren murmerd, following Levi's advice.

"Yeah, well, there's no point in stressing. It just makes everything harder." Levi was looking out the window now, and appeared to be completely at ease.

"You're not worried I'm gonna fuck something up?" Eren swore under his breath as a car appeared.

"You're doing fine, you haven't made any majoy mistakes so far. You know what you're doing, and I can still go for the wheel if I need to. Seriously dude, chill. You've got this. Driving should be fun."

"Really? That's how you see it?"

"How else should I see it?'

"A necessity, stressful, a risk, I don't know but not fun."

"Well, like I said there's no point in stressing about it. You've gotta do it so it should just be enjoyable."

"Who taught you to drive?"

"My mum, and my uncle came over occasionally. Mostly I just had professional lessons though. My wallet wasn't fucking happy about it."

"I can imagine." Eren murmured, sighing as the car pulled into a driveway.

"See, you don't need to worry about anything."

"You're not gonna make me go onto a proper road are you?" Eren spared a glance at Levi, and falted at the sight of him with eyes closed, an elbow rested on the window.

"No, we'll wait until you're ready. You've still got like what, four months until you're due for your restricted? We've got time."

Eren refocused on the road, shoulders relaxing along with his face as his lips formed a smile.

They had time. All the time in the world.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I'm still a bit iffy about roundabouts and the timing of it all."

"Well, maybe next time we can go a few streets over. They've got more roundabouts."

"And people?" 

"Depends on what time of the day. If we can beat or wait out work traffic then you'll be fine. Anyway, we don't have to do it right away. I could show you around there with me driving so you can have a look and decide."

"Sounds good." Eren and Levi made their way through the house, greeting Kuchel. The two entered Levi's room, Eren flopping on the bed as soon as it came into sight.

'Don't mess it up."

"But you're just gonna sleep in it anyway."

"And until then, I want it neat." Levi dropped next to Eren, sighing as he pulled out his phone. He frowned at the text.

"What's up?"

"Hanji wants me to go to this stupid party, she won't stop bugging me about it."

"You should go." Eren said, looking up at the ceiling. "When is it."

"This weekend. I'm not going, parties are stupid and the people who go are insufferable."

"I didn't even know that Hanji went to parties." Eren adjusted, now resting his head on Levi's pillow. It was far too hard for Eren's liking, but it was better than no elevation for his neck. 

"She doesn't- not often anyway. She only goes because she never has any other excuse to dance with loud music aparently."

"Huh. Well, I can't say I can imagine  _you_ going to a party, of all people."

"Which is exactly why I'm not going. She's crazy."

"Obviously. So, when are you helping Farlan?"

"Whenever he asks. I don't think Isabel knows where's home yet, so we have at least some time of peace."

"Cool. You sure your mum doesn't mind me staying the night?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. She thinks you're an angel compared to Hanji at least." Eren propped himself up on an elbow.

"She doesn't like Hanji?"

"Oh, no she loves her. She's just super loud."

"That is true."

"Move over." Eren did so while also lying back down, making enough room for Levi to nestle himself on the other side of the bed.

"I'm so tired."

"You were't even driving for that long."

'No, I meant like after this week. I just want it to be over already."

"Well, we're almost there." Eren didn't reply, mostly because he didn't exactly know what to say. Eren closed his eyes, breathing deeply. It was peaceful in Levi's house, no siblings or loud T.V noises. Levi's room was the furthest in the house, so not many excess sounds travelled to it.

Eren's eyes snapped open when he felt a pair of fingers trailing across his palm. He turned his head gently to Levi, mouth slightly agape. Levi was only focused on what his fingers were doing however, draggig themselves slowly over the smooth skin beneath them. Circles and whorls and swirls they traced, up and down and slowly extended up the brunette's arm. Levi's eyes flickered up for a moment, but Eren didn't say anything. Levi looked away again, staring up at the ceiling. His actions didn't halt. So Eren too looked to the ceiling, closing his eyes. He willed his eartbeat to calm, to calm as it contnued to rampage on.

It meant nothing, surely. Levi always touched his hand. They held hands all the time, he'd already acknowledged that fact earlier on in the day. Surely once was enough. But Eren couldn't help himself as he looked down at his hand again, watching as their skin colours complememnted each other.

Eren lost track of time, half-way between consiousness and half in the endless void that was sleep, dozing off and coming back to reality only when something loud couroused throughout the house. Levi never showed any signs of alarm however, not saying anything, so Eren returned to the world of the unconscious.

Eren almost didn't notice when Levi's hand began to trail further up his arm- right to the shoulder. Then it danced across his collar bone, still cirlcing and tracing different shapes that Eren coulnd't seem to figure out. But he did notice, every line and every stroke sent shivers throgh his body and brain, caused his breathing to lapse and his heart to beat at all sorts of different paces.

And still Levi said nothing, and Eren didn't exactly know what  _he_ himself could say. 'Hey, you're touching me and I'm liking it but why are you doing it?' No, not a chance. So they lay in silence, Levi sending Eren into a bliss he had never experienced before. A bliss he never thought he'd  _want_ to experience. But there he was, trying to hold back hums of pleasure and contentness.

And then Eren yelped as Levi shufted, turning himself on his side to run a hand down the brunette's chest. Eren willed his heart to stop, even going as far as hlding his breath in an attmpt to stop it. Levi didn't pass over it however, and did only as he had been doing to Eren's arm. Swirls and whorls and patterns he coulnd't recognise. Eren eventually relaxed, Levi's words replaying in his head.  _There's no point in stressing. It just makes everythign harder._ So Eren breathed, and calmed. It wasn't harming him, and it wasn't harming Levi either. He could just rest, let it all wash over him. Enjoy it.

The enjoyment didn't last long however, as there was a kocking at the door. Levi wasted no time in getting up, stalking towards the door as it opened. Eren tried his best to collect himself, just hoping that his face wasn't as red as he feared it was.

"You alright"

"Yeah, I was just wondering if you're ready to move things now."

"Yeah, sure." Levi turned away from Farlan to face Eren. "Alright, Isabel's probably in her room."

"Cool, let Isabel duty commence." Eren joked, mentally punching himself at how raw his voice sounded. They might have been wanting to spread a rumuor, but Levi's own brother didn't need to get a whiff of it. Levi closed the door as he and Farlan left the room, and Eren let his head hit the pillow again. 

Maybe he didn't need an answer, but maybe he did. It could all be for the rumour, the touching in public and private. But maybe it wasn't. Maybe it was something else. Teasing, or proper feelings if he dared hope, dared think.

He didn't know. So Eren just closed his eyes, and tried to chase away the phantom of Levi's fingers trailing his body. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also just wanna say, like I mentioned mentally I've been poop but your comments are kudos and everything just make me so happy?? They just completely turn my day around and just you reading this fic means the world to me. Thank you.


	32. Wandering Hands

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren realises something special, the boys play with each other a little, and Eren and Mikasa have some one-on-one sibling time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My brother has his friends round and HNG they're so loud.
> 
> I'm actually kind of happy with this chapter?? Maybe?? Although I think I have got my pacing under control so yay.
> 
> Hope you enjoy it!

The fire that was Eren and Levi's rumour spread over the next month, with minimal consequences. The worst that had come from it was Mikasa's little subtle drops that she wanted to know what was going on between him and Levi. His friends had also started to question him, Sasha mentioning here and here that she had been tipped off that Eren and Levi were acting a certain way around each other while in school. Those were the moments Eren found it hardest not to smile in triumph, because those were the moments he knew that their hard work was paying off. Jean was teasing Eren constantly about the over coupley photos both Eren and Levi had been posting on social media- he'd even followed Levi specifically for that reason. Marco was the only one ho had been acting normal about the whole thing, had looked away when Levi and Eren decided to show off their rumour. Meanwhile, Thomas wasn't holding back, and because he was semi-close to Eren and their friend group he was like a sole supplier to the other people in their tutor class. And Eren was happy to oblige in the giving in the information.

Or rather, the lack of it. Eren was always purposefully vague with what information he deposited, giving loose directions to places that Eren and Levi had taken photos, had avoided the questions on how Eren felt about Levi truly. Those questions were the easiest for Eren to answer. At first anyway.

Now, while it was easier to lie about it, it hurt more. It meant more. Because over the duration of the month that had passed, Eren had realised that he was crushing on Levi. And crushing hard.

He'd noticed all the signs obviously in the past few months, the racing of his heart the pounding and heat flashes, all things that he had read about before if not experienced. But of course, he'd wanted to deny it, to blame it all on hormones and a gay realisation that was being taken out on Levi. He never would have thought that Levi was the cause of the gay awakening. Nothing had exactly changed between the two, though Levi had continued to touch Eren subtly. No, rather it had happened gradually over a period of time. Just all the small touches they'd shared and the banters, the study sessions they had together and the tutor sessions with Izzy and when they would go out on their small drives together. That had started being a new tradition, so that Levi could teach Eren without Eren being behind the wheel. Levi had claimed that since he'd already broken two driving laws that one night on the beach, he may as well become a major driving criminal. Eren had found it hard to stop laughing at that.

The 'ah ha!' moment had come when they were laying on Eren's bed, home alone aside from Mikasa who was downstairs playing on the Wii. Levi had been trailing his fingers along Eren's outstretched hand, and Eren being so caught up in the blissful of it all, he'd knocked down the glass when moving his other arm to subtly draw Levi closer. The shorter male had stood instantly, first calling Eren a fucking idiot before proceeding to clean up the glass and water. It had hit Eren, how he'd laughed at Levi's insult knowing it had no real bite to it, the fact that they were so close and so comfortable that they could just insult each other on a whim. How his heart had lurched when Eren offered to clean it up since it was his mess and Levi had simply waved him off, saying that Eren looked far too comfortable to get up. Which made everything with the rumour harder, when his rational thoughts were telling him that Levi was only looking at him  _that_ way for the rumour and his heart was telling him it was because of a deeper, more intimate connection.

The two boys had come up with multiple new strategies to spread the rumour, had a whole hour session to brainstorm how they'd do it. Between classes they'd agreed to meet up in particular places, to follow particular paths in order to catch each other on the way to classes. Once, Eren even caught a junior red-handed taking a photo of him and Levi hugging after following one of these paths. Eren had debated telling the kid nicely to delete it, showing a facade of him not wanting people to see them and eventually find out they were together, but the look Levi had given him said enough. Let people see what they wanted to see, let them question and conspirasize. Make it spiral right out of their hands, their control.

Just as Levi had claimed at the very start of the whole operation, Eren was having fun with the whole spreading of the rumour thing. Internals had come and gone while benchmarks were fast approaching, meaning that teachers were getting stressed and rushing through topics, while Mikasa and his parents were all crashing down on him to study and do well. He was still making sure to hit most of his internals with merits, not letting his dream go of getting a merit endorsement. It was in periods of times like these when Eren most appreciated his time spent with Levi, those half an hour to an hour drives through quiet and empty streets where no police might catch them, driving in silence or not being able to stop talking at all. Going to cafes after school to study and eat as much as their wallets would allow it (which wasn't much, really) the phone calls and texts that they'd started sharing since Eren couldn't sleep one night and the memes Connie were sharing with the group chat were stale. In those times, in those moments, those were the times Eren could feel the crush developing and growing. Where the feelings would swell until Eren thought his heart would get too big for his rig cage and burst through. And sometimes, sometimes Eren thought that he could feel the same energy coming from Levi. As if the same thoughts might be running through his head, his mind and his heart, when they were just that much closer together than they were the moment before.

And then Levi would pull away. Levi would pull away from the contact, from the conversation, from the release of conversation, from the breaking out of being so cooped up in his own feelings and thoughts and experiences. He would clam up again, and there was nothing like the disappointment Eren felt as it burned through his body as if important documents of memories from his life were being torn through by the flames. They would be in a moment of contact, amount of connection and Levi would just detach himself as if he were simply detaching himself from a spider web. Eren had never felt the want or need for a relationship, had never seen his friends date and talk about their romantic adventures and feel envy. He was happy for them, happy that they were able to enjoy that aspect of living. He wasn't ready to deal with that, hadn't had the opportunity to. And now, there was nothing he wanted more. There was no fear on what would happen if it didn't work out, no worries about the awkwardness between them should they decide they didn't fit as well as they would have previously thought, but there was a longing. Because shit happened, sometimes puzzle pieces looked like they fit until you put it to the board. And that was okay, because that just meant that you had to keep looking for the right piece.

And sometimes Eren thought that Levi might have been feeling the same way, thought that Levi might have wanted the same thing. To just give them a try. But then, as always, Levi would pull out of the race at the last minute. Would close up and distance himself from any sort of possibility. It was beyond frustrating for Eren, and he could never tell what was real and what wasn't anymore, couldn't tell what was for the rumour and what was for _them_. He'd just about given up on trying to differentiate it all together.

But he had tried to give it up, tried to tell himself he didn't want to screw up their friendship if Levi had a different side to him, that he himself didn't want to risk getting his heart broken. But once you noticed every single little perfect detail about someone, when the sound of their laugh make you smile instantly and when their presence just completely elevated you right away... well, it was hard to forget it when your heart was jumping hurdles.

So, aside from the internal guesswork and confusion of feelings for his fortunately bisexual friend, Eren found spreading and working the rumour with Levi to be an entertaining and distracting past time.

Eren looked up at the ceiling, humming along to the song that was now playing through the crappy sound quality of his laptop. Levi lounged on Eren's side, eyes closed as he listened to the reverberation in Eren's chest. As if he were a cat purring, Levi had said.

"Do you think if I turn it up Mikasa will break through the wall this time?" Eren murmured, feeling his eyes also drifting closed.

"Maybe. She is crazy afterall."

"Levi."

"Sorry." Levi readjusted himself, making Eren hum in pleasure. He quickly resumed his humming of the song, else Levi may have caught on  _he_ was the cause of the vibrations in his chest this time. The rain reduced into a light pitter-patter, the droplets becoming small sprinkles of water on the window. The two boys had originally planned to go out for lunch, however neither of them could be bothered with the rain and traffic and people, so they'd decided to skip all of that and just spend the day lounging around at Eren's.

"Do you wanna try another movie?" Eren asked, looking down at Levi's pale face.

"We're already started like five movies and none of them worked. What do you think?"

"Sixth times a charm?"

"Fuck off." Eren laughed, returning his eyes to the ceiling as if they were attracted there by a magnet.

"You okay with this music? I can change it if you want."

"Eren?" Said boy tilted his head to meet a pair of steady eyes.

"Yeah?"

"Shut up. The music's fine." Levi let his head fall back on Eren's chest, and the brunette chuckled.

"Okay." Neither said anything after that. Eren did, however, jolt when a pair of slender fingers began to trail their way across Eren's skin.

He looked down quickly and continued to watch as Levi dragged his nails briskly across Eren's somehow exposed stomach. A shiver went down Eren's spine, spreading out through his bones and seeping into his muscles as he tensed. He gradually relaxed, however, melting into the touch. He willed his heart to calm else Levi might notice and take deep breaths with an as small amount as notice as he could manage.

It wasn't the first time Levi had spontaneously touched Eren. Usually, he would absentmindedly play with Eren's mop of hair, sometimes he would tap on his back or neck. But Levi had never made an effort to weave his hands under Eren's clothes in order to meet bare skin though. 

Eren tensed again, remembering the fact that this was a  new step. A new development. But eventually he closed his eyes, letting himself go and giving in completely to the bliss that was Levi's touch. Usually, he'd give Levi a look, a look of questioning as to why he was acting this way in private. Usually, Levi would laugh him off with a shrug of his shoulders, merely treating it as he was doing nothing out of the ordinary. The music continued to play in the background, though Eren didn't hear what the lyrics were saying. His skin burned and roared, though smothered by Levi's tendrils of water.

Of course, the questioning still remained even if Eren wasn't bothering to express it this time. He didn't understand why Levi would teat him like this before dismissing it as if it were nothing, why he would never bring it up. And quite frankly, it was beginning to piss Eren off just a little bit. Shivers ran down Eren's spine once more as Levi's fingers trailed further down, to trace circles around the inside of his thigh. His breath hitched, Eren looking down again. But Levi's eyes were still closed and he hadn't moved his body. Eren clenched his fist, cursing his body for reacting in such a way. And then an idea struck.

What if he also played this game Levi was playing? Perhaps he could get Levi back in a slight way. He hadn't ever tried to return the affectionate gesture, had never really actively tried to push Levi into talking about why he did it, mostly because Eren knew that if he ever really did then Levi would just brush it off and not want to talk about it. So maybe, maybe it was time for a new course of action. So Eren reached his hand down and wrapped his fingers in Levi's hair. It was a tentative touch, almost as if he were patting a cat in a bad mood that may scratch you if you weren't careful and considerate enough.

Levi's hand paused in its track and Eren smiled triumphantly to himself. But then it just resumed as normal, as if it had never stopped. Eren scowled up at the ceiling. _Fine, Two can play at that game_. So Eren then continued to also play with Levi's hair, moving from small section to small section. Levi gradually melded even further into Eren's side, his breathing becoming more even, although his hand did not stop nor did it falter. Eren didn't know how long they went like that, too emersed in the bliss of being touched and equally touching. Of course, the universe had to always find a way to ruin all things good as Levi pulled away.

"I need the bathroom. I'll be back." Nothing suspicious, nothing as if he were trying to escape the situation. It was just normal extraction. Eren's thought was further proven at the shorter male took an extra long to get detangled from Eren's fingers that were completely and irrevocably tangled through his hair. Eren lay flat on his bed and rubbed his hands over his face. God, he was such a mess. At least one thing was for sure now.

They weren't just playing the school with the rumours, but we're also now playing with each other. A dance, in a way.

The thought made Eren smile. Well, this would be an interesting thing. He'd be able to play with Levi, to mess with him. To confuse the confuser. He was pretty sure he hadn't given anything away, that he'd developed feelings, and Levi had never really mentioned any of Eren's behaviours... Eren shook his head as if it could clear his thoughts and mind. This could just be another way for Levi to mess with him, to make him guess. _You sneaky son of a bitch_. Eren was truly being played, and being played well. Although that still didn't turn down the hurt Eren still felt about it. They might be dancing around the subject together, against each other, but that still didn't answer Eren's question about whether Levi did have feelings for him or not, which was the important thing to him. Eren's phone went off, and he smiled at what the notification read.

Someone had liked his newest photo, one of him and Levi at the park that they'd taken just last week after one of their drives. They didn't want someone questioning why they were taking up the swing with a rock, so night time seemed like the best time to have a park play down with Carl. Eren unlocked his phone for the only purpose of getting rid of the notification, but then he couldn't help but look at the photo and...

Well, they looked happy. Like a real couple if he knew anything about dating. If he weren't a part of the duo that was trying to fool others, he certainly would have been fooled himself. And Eren knew that the smile on his face in the photo was no fake, that it really was one of pure enjoyment. He just couldn't figure out whether it was the same deal with Levi, whether the feeling was mutual. And Eren found himself again feeling and thinking the same thing that had been coming up and occurring to him these past few weeks, mostly in the times that they had been hanging out with each other.

He wished that these moments were genuine, that they were taking their rock baby child to the park as a couple thing. That on that night at the beach, their very first time doing something for the rumour actively, they were writing a stupid ugly cheesy thing into the sand. He wished that the 'forever and ever' really did mean forever and ever. That their relationship would be engraved into the sand forever, though no one would ever be able to see it, even though the only eyes to witness it was their own.

And he knew it was dumb and cheesy, knew that Levi would likely fake gag if he ever said these words out loud, but that didn't change the fact that he did indeed still feel them. He just wished that Levi would feel the same way. Or if not that, then at least come clean and tell Eren directly about it. He just wished that the rumours were true.

But since that was not the case, he and Levi would continue to light their own mini fires, and hide behind the smoke. Because if Levi was going to start a game, he really should have been able to tall that it was a multiplayer one.

"Why did you turn the music off?" Eren sat up at Levi's voice, frazzled for being caught off guard. He hadn't even noticed the lack of noise in the air.

"Oh, playlist ended. I didn't know that one you would want to listen to next." Eren lied smoothly, already leaning forward to browse through his other playlists. Levi frowned.

"Oh, okay. I'm good with anything." Eren barked with laughter.

"Liar! Last time I had to go through four different playlists until we finally found one that satisfied your needs."

"That's just because they had shitty pop music on there."

"Yeah? Then how come with one of the playlists you didn't ask to change it until literally _forty-seven_ songs in?"

"Because there was no shitty music up until that point, and when there's one there's always more."

"What, you mean like whetters?"

"Don't bring up those creatures or I'll leave." Eren threw his hands up in defeat, indeed giving up completely on the conversation. Levi would always win. Levi then flopped on Eren's bed, narrowly missing crushing the brunette's arm. Eren glared down at Levi who didn't quite catch it considering his face was pressed thoroughly into the mattress. Levi rolled over so that his face and body were turned up, staring up at the ceiling through half-closed eyelids. Eren resumed looking through the playlists, but his eyes snagged on Levi's lifted shirt. Of course, Levi had to be wearing a shirt that was prone to riding up. Of fucking course. Eren had already given up on not looking at Levi every chance he got, had given up a week and a half ago in fact. There was just no point. If he was going to have a crush, then he was going to indulge himself in it and have the whole experience. So Eren skillfully looked, analysed how the paleness of his skin matched the rest of his body, how it was slightly toned-

He quickly averted his eyes when Levi shifted. But his eyes remained unobservant, and Eren snuck in one more quick peak. He still had to find another playlist, else Levi would question him on why it took him so long to find one. Unfortunately, Eren finally getting the courage to make contact with Levi had infected him, and now he just had the strangest urge to touch him...

Eren shouldered it, picked a random playlist and pushed the laptop away. He didn't close the lid all the way, but it was noticeable that he was putting it down for a bit. He then shuffled lower slightly and placed a tentative hand on Levi's stomach. The boy's eyes still didn't open, and his body remained in the same relaxed state. So Eren, with a heated face and screaming at himself internally to  _stop,_  continued to do just as Levi had done, dragging his finger up and down in small strokes before switching to small circles and then transitioning back to the lines. Eren swallowed thickly, his mouth dry as all of the moisture n his mouth had evaporated when the idea of touching Levi's stomach had entered his head, his thoughts and his mind. _What am I doing what am I doing what am I_ _doing oh my God, I'm actually doing it. I'm touching Levi_ -

But it seemed that not only the universe hated him, but also whatever Gods that were looking down on him out there. Levi's phone went off, and Eren could feel the vibrations from the back pocket of Levi's jeans. Eren had to actively reign in his annoyed groan. Levi however, didn't bother to try and keep it in. Levi let out a low growl, waiting a moment before rising and lifting his body slightly in the air. Eren had enough restraint this time to not let his gaze wander to the newly exposed view.

Levi's body dropped again like a stone back onto the bed, and he gestured back to his stomach without a second glance at Eren. His face heated up at the signal, and the command and request. Nonetheless, Eren's hands returned themselves to their earlier positions.

"Hello?" There was a short pause.

"No, I'm not busy. What's up?" Izzy, then. Or his mum. Eren supposed it could have been Farlan but Levi was less lenient towards his brother than he was his sister or mother.

"Why can't mum take you?" Eren bit his lip, closing his eyes. Nope, he would not let his eyes or his hands travel any lower than his stomach. Just one slip up and everything would just get super-

"Oh, okay. Do you know when her shift ends?... Okay, well where's Farlan? No it's no problem it's just I'm at Eren's and it'll take me a while to get home so I'm just making sure that you've got no other ride... Okay. Yeah no, that's fine. Alright, I'll be over in an hour to two then, please make sure you're ready... yeah, okay bye love you, see you soon." Levi hung up and let the phone drop by his side for a moment. He exhaled deeply, head sinking further into the pillow.

"Everything alright?" Eren murmured, lightly grazing the skin now.

"Yeah, Izzy just wants to get to the movies as I have to take her. Mum's at work and of course Farlan has to have his drama rehearsal today. I also have to pick her up late from her friends so it'll be easier if I don't stay the night. Sorry."

"It's fine." Eren's heart dropped. Of course, it had to be fine, it always had to be fine where Levi's family was concerned. But that didn't mean it didn't hurt him any less. "We can always do this some other time." Though Eren could never clearly tell whether Levi had feelings for Eren in return, he could recognise that both of them would use their rumour as an excuse to hang out with each other. Sometimes they wouldn't even bring up the rumour in the hours they'd spend together. It never felt like enough though, and that made Eren just feel that little bit more selfish about the whole thing

"Thanks." Levi still made no effort to move. He did still have an hour or two, afterall.

"You're a good brother. I'd hate to be the responsible older sibling."

"I can imagine, poor Mikasa having to look after you. I may not like her but no one should have to be put through that. Hey, do you think your parents adopted her so that she could look after you because you're such a handful?"

"Don't be an ass!" Eren laughed, bringing a pillow hard down on Levi's face. When the shorter male tore it away there was a radiant smile on his face rather than the scowl Eren was expecting.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hey, I'm going over to Armin's in about ten minutes. You wanna come?" Mikasa leaned over the counter, a smirk already on her face. "I'll let you drive."

"Mikasa," Eren gasped, "I thought you were a good law-abiding citizen?"

"Well, Sasha ruined that when she got drunk and made me pick her up from Connie's at like one in the morning. I'll redeem myself eventually. So you in or not?"

"Hell yeah, is anyone else coming?"

"I think Christa might be coming later." Eren nodded. He hadn't seen her since the last time at Connie's place. He felt slightly guilty about not making an effort to befriend her, or her girlfriend for that matter, but it wasn't like he was entitled to it.

"Cool. I'll grab my stuff."

"It's for the night," Mikasa yelled up the stairs that Eren was halfway up due to bolting up there. As promised, ten minutes they were walking out of the house. Eren chucked his stuff in the back, realising that it had been a long time since he'd been to Armin's house. He wondered if Armin had redecorated or refurnished his room again. Or if his grandfather's box collection had grown.

"Hey, I'm sorry I haven't been hanging out with you guys as often." Eren closed the door, cringing at the slam of it as the force are down upon it.

"It's fine, you're making new friends. It's been a while, and I would want a break from that lot if I had to send every single freaking day with them."

"Is that how you feel with Sasha?"

"Sasha is a lot easier to deal with than any male." Eren had to agree, and laughed. There was silence as Eren backed out of the driveway, and then-

"Hey- is there anything going on between you two? You and Levi, I mean." It was a hesitant question- not a hint of accusation or distrust in that sentence. It still took everything Eren had to keep his eyes focused on the road behind him though.

"Oh, um-"

"I mean I'll support you no matter what, and I understand everything so you can tell me anything-"

"God I never thought I'd be having this conversation with my sister," Eren said, more to himself than anything. "I really appreciate that Mikasa, and it means a lot for you to say it. But seriously, there's nothing going on between us." If only Mikasa would buy that line, for God's sake he'd said it so many times. Mikasa often asked the same question in various ways, but had never come out and said it as bluntly as Eren was sure as she would have dared say 'like you two boning?' He loved his sister, but he had to keep lying. Not only that, but it also helped solidify the fact that he and Levi really weren't doing anything other than being friends. Even if they were pretending to be in a relationship for a rumour. For claimed fun.

And although it never worked, even though the question just always lay dormant, Mikasa slumped in her seat, letting it go once again.

"Okay."


	33. That's Wack

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Library, wack results, Eren's being too gay for movies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hng I am so sorry for the long wait, I've just been feeling out of it these past few weeks and I also don't like where the plot is going anymore and I just need to sit down at fix it but hmmmm it just gives me anxiety. I'll pull through though!
> 
> Ahhh it felt so good writing again after so long. If it's a bit shabby I'm sorry, and my editing game may be a bit weak because I think if I don't get this out before I go to bed, I will actually go crazy :)
> 
> I'm gonna try update once a week, so we'll see how that goes.  
> Thank you so much for your patience, ya'll are the best.
> 
> Hope you enjoy this chapter!  
> (Sorry it's so short)  
> (I promise the gay shit's on it's way!)

Dust swirled around Eren's book as it caught in the light, the sun streaming down on his back. If it weren't a hot blistering day in the middle of August, which was the odd thing, and if he wasn't having to spend the day cooped up in the library typing as if his life depended upon it, his day would be off to a better start.

His day also would have been much improved if his life really didn't depend on it. His academic life, anyway. _Why did I have to procrastinate so much? WHY?_

The worst part was that he didn't have anyone to blame but himself- he hadn't even left the house in the past two weeks. Hell, he'd turned down hanging out with Marco, someone who could have helped him with the internal.

Eren let out a loud gruff sigh, and turned and the sound of Marco's chair also moving.

"Almost there?" Marco smiled, looking as if he hadn't sleep in two nights. But then again, Eren wouldn't be surprised if that was the case. Marco had always wanted to get an excellence endorsement in as many subjects as possible, and biology was no exception. While he'd actually been spending time out of class and staying up late to finish his internal up to an excellence standard, Eren had sat around doing virtually nothing half hoping that the uiverse would be kind to him and magic the work up for him the night before. A merit, would be nice.

But this was level two, and level two offered no favours. Level two was the year that mattered the most, so of fucking  _course_ nothing was easier for them. Nothing. The only good thing it had offered was the fact that Marco had lost it somewhat like the rest of them, and had resorted to school related memes to help cope. It gave Eren emense joy to see that he as doing just as well as the rest of them were with the stress. 

"Just four more paragraphs to go."  _And one hour to do it,_ were the unspoken words. He honestly had no idea how he was going to do it. Eren's eyes skimmed over Marco's laptop screen, and his heart dropped.

The paragraphs were longer, the words were proper terminolgy that Marco had spent his actual time learning rather than just looking up at the last minute.

"Remember, I am going for excellence." Marco offereed, having caught on what was going on in Eren's mind. "You'll be fine." Eren just nodded tightly turning back to his own screen.  _Well, I'll actually achieve nothing if I avoid it any longer._ So Eren put his head down, and typed faster than he thought was possible for his fingers to go. He managed to get into the flow of typing, into the quick searches and paint sketches of diagrams rather quickly. He was so focused he almost didn't hear the noise that was rapidly growing in the background.

Almost.

Eren let out a frustrated growl, turning quickly to see what all the ruckus was about.  _Can't a man stress about his bio internal in peace!_ He didn't feel any better when he found the source of the distraction.

An entire class had entered the library, and they just happened to be a level two class. Great, now they would start talking to the other bio students which wuld just generate more noise. Most of the time Eren didn't mind that his teacher was laid back and let the class run wild, he even liked it sometimes, but not  _now._

Eren scanned quickly through the people, trying to find someone he recognised. Then if he did find someone, he could work out what class it was and how long they would be in the library. Maybe they had a strict teacher and had to remain quiet, maybe they'd be failed if they spoke. Eren toyed with the thought.

But Eren quickly lost interest in that thought, and it died as soon as Eren saw the black hair, darker than any hair he'd ever seen. Because the wearer of that dark hair somehow managed to remain in the darkness of the room so often, preferred to out in the night time rather than the daytime, was Levi. If the hair wasn't recognisable enough, the pale skin and sharp features certainly were.

Eren continued to stare at the male, urging with whatever energy was between them for Levi to turn around and make eye contact with him. Fortunately, the God's wanted at least something right for him to happen today, and Levi eventually did turn his head. Eren was convinced his eyes had skimmed right over him, but they locked so tight he couldn't have been mistaken even if he wanted to. 

So, an English class then. Levi's English class. Suddenly Eren wanted nothing more than a distraction at that moment, as long as the distraction was Levi. Eren raise his brows, a silent question. 

_You guys gonna be here long?_

Levi just closed his eyes.

_Yes. Unfortunately._

Eren laughed, pointing to his computer.

_It's okay, I'm suffering too._

Levi looked at Eren again, this time with a look that challenged Eren's statement. Levi was then about to make another gesture with his hands when someone began talking to him. They then cut off their speech when they followed Levi's line of sight, and just tightened his mouth in understanding. So, people who knew Levi and not Eren  _did_  know about the rumour. And apparently were convinced it was true, which that at least Levi was doing his job right.The stranger mumbled something to Levi's ear. Whatever it was he said caused Levi to do a particularly over the top eyeroll, turning away from Eren completely. From the way he had fully turned around, Eren didn't expect that he was going to get his friend's attention again. Hurt, familiar hurt caroused through him. He'd wished it was back to like when Eren hadn't discovered his crush, when Levi turning away was just another way to throw people off and make them second guess what they thought about the truth of the rumour. Now, even thugh he knew it wasn't anything personal, Eren still couldn't help but take it that way. He was about to tun back to his computer to plow through the internal when the stranger turned and walked away from Levi.

And Eren let out a small shrill laugh as Levi pulled the finger at his back.

Marco looked up startled from his work, and even the teacher silenced Eren with a look.  Eren flicked his eyes back over to Levi who was smirking slyly. Then, Eren watched as he walked off with the rest off his class to the other side of the library. And for some reason, it gave Eren the spirit and strength to gain motivation to finish his internal.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I can't believe we're  _finally_ getting our results back." Connie mused, balancing all of his weight on a singluar chair leg. "It's been for fucking ever since we submitted."

"And its our last one, too." Eren pointed out, watching wearily as the chair tipped ever so slightly.

"Oh, it's KILLING ME!"

"Shut up Connie." Eren laughed, almost tipping his friend over. "She's literally handing them out now."

'Why did we have to sit in the back of the class." Connie sulked. 

"If you keep doing that to my chair you won't be getting your mark back at all." Miss stared down at him, however not unkindly. Immediately Connie let all control go and the chair legs went slamming into the floor.

"Sorry miss, won't happen again."

"You say that literally everytime." Eren reached out for his grade. "Thanks Miss."

"He's not wrong, Connie. You could slip one day and anything could happen."

"Thank you for your concern miss, but I'm a certified chair balancer." She just rolled her eyes and gave the grade back to Connie.

"Ready?"

"No," Connie hissed, holding it tight to his chest. "I'm too scared to look." Indeed, the bubble of nerves was beginning to build up in Eren.

"Alright, well then let's look at them together." Eren suggested, to which Connie thankfully agreed to.

"On three. One, two-"

"Three!" Connie screeched, slamming the paper onto the desk in front of him.

"Jesus Connie, I thought that-"

"FUCK YES EXCELLENCE!"

"Language, Springer." Miss glowered from the front of the class talking to another student about his grade. Connie only smiled apologetically before returning to his buzzed state next to Eren.

"I can't believe I did it! What'd you get."

"High merit!"

"Nice!" The two high fived, both grinning like fools.

"Wow, we actually fucking did it!" 

"Yeah, we did." Eren mused, smiling down at his grade as if it were his pride and joy in life. His first thought was to text his mum but then.. well, he could just tell her when he got home. He wouldn't have a chance to tell Levi until he next saw him if he were to do it in person. So it was that when Eren went into his contacts, it was Levi's that was selected rather than the one below it.

_Hey, got high merit for that English internal! Connie even managed to rake in an excellence._

The reply was slow, but that was to be expected seeing as they were in class.

_That's wack. You wanna do something to celebrate?_

_Yeah, that'd be cool. Have anything in mind?_

_We could just chill at a park or something. Chinese?_

_Sounds gyood.What day?_

_Thursday?_

_Ok. Gotta go, Connie's pestering me. Talk later._

Eren put his phone away, knowing Levi wouldn't reply, as he never did when they were at the end of their conversations. Eren smiled down at his shoes, not bothering to engage in conversation with Connie again. Eating chinese together at the park- slightly romantic, if anything. To celebrate an achievment. Eren's phone buzzed once again, and a small smile made it's way onto his face when Eren saw who it was from.

_Talk later, brat._

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Yeah, I heard Hanji and Levi are planning to ditch some day just to work on it." Armin said, not lifting his eyes from the book in his hand. "It's just so hard, and Miss is getting super strict on the marking."

"That's what you get for taking physics." Eren huffed, fiddling with his cupcake wrapper. He'd ended up texting his mother only moment after telling Levi, and his mother being so impressd and happy for him, celabratory cupcakes were there waiting on the bench when he and Mikasa got home. 

"You'll get through it." Mikasa said, throwing Eren a look that obviously said 'you're not helping.' "You're smart. And hey, I'll be there suffering with you when we start studying it next term."

"I dunno." Armin muttered. "Oh!" He slammed the book down abruptly, startling the Jaeger siblings equally.

"What is it?"

"That movie we wanted to see, Grave Digger?  The last showing is Thursday. I didn't want to leave it last minute, but I've got to study this stupid thing for the test on Thursday. You guys wanna go?"

"That sounds awesome." Mikasa nodded, already putting it into her phone. Eren's heart faltered, his pleasant mood quickly deteriorating. "I've got a silks lesson after school though, so we'll have to go later."

"Yeah, that works." Neither Armin or Mikasa noticed Eren's changed demeaner.

He'd planned to hang out with Levi night.

Eren's mind began racing, trying to find a loophole or a solution. He could easily reshedule with Levi, it was no big deal. But then again, there was no telling when Levi might be free again with Isabel and Farlan, and Eren himself had things he had piling up. Procrastination wasn't something you could do forever. Deep down, Eren knew it was true because a part of him craved being with Levi so much, he'd prefer him over his to best friends. Eventually, Armin noticed Eren's conscious absence.

"You okay Eren? Do you not want to go anymore?"

"No, it's not that." Eren shook his head. "I planned something with Levi Thursday afternoon." Understanding flooded Armin's face.

"Oh, okay. Is it a thing you can't reshedule?"

"Well I mean we can, it's just I don't know when he'll be free next and- yeah..."

"That's fine." Armin waved him off, Mikasa nodding also. "But I'm not missing it, I've been waiting months for this movie. We can all watch it together when it comes out."

"But we're still going right?" Mikasa cut in.

"Yeah, we'll still go." Armin looked apologetically at Eren. "Sorry Eren."

"No no, it's fine. I don't mind waiting or it to come out. I do wanna hang out with you guys though, it'd been a while."

"Oh hey, I've got a competition thing sometime in the near future, there'll be a lot of uninterupted down time. I could ask grandad if you guys can come?"

"That sounds great!" Mikasa took a bite of her cupcake. "Where is it?"

"Not sure yet, it's still being decided. We'll know in a week or so. So you guys in?"

"Hell yeah." Eren mused, leaning back. "Sounds like a plan."

"Alright cool. Hey, love talking to you guys and all but I think I need to focus on studying."

"Of course. Alright, talk tomorrow then." Mikasa said, waving goodbye.

"See you tomorrow." Eren chimed in, and with a quick farewell from Armin, the siblings were alone.

"I'm gonna head to bed now." Eren yawned, peeling himself off Mikasa's bed.

"So what are you doing with Levi on Thursday?" Mikasa asked, as if Eren hadn't just announced his depature. 

"I don't know, just hanging out. Why?"

"It's just- you're getting really close, and I know that-" Eren rolled his eyes.

"Goodnight Mikasa." He left his sisters room. She didn't follow.

It wasn't that Eren didn't like talking about Levi to her or his friends, he found it hilarious to mess with them. But Mikasa always pushed, always pointed out the fact that they were getting closer and mentioned the things Levi tended to do both in public and private. It made him remember just how much he wanted the rumours to be true.

So when he fell face first into his bed, he tried to push away the thoughts and memories of Levi that instantly attacked him. 


	34. The Sweetest Poison

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little celebratory no-homo date :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So first of I'm an idiot and somehow forgot to say this in the last chapter, but happy holidays and happy new year to you all! (Though I'm hella late because I suck at updating h a)
> 
> As a little New Years resolution thing I'm gonna try update once a week, so we'll see how that goes. I finally pieced together the next like ten chapters and I'm super excited and I know where I'm going with this, which was something I got really anxious about when I didn't know so whoop! Hope I can write a lot quicker and more often now.
> 
> Sorry this is a bit short, there was gonna be another part but eh, I'm picky when it comes to what should be 1 chapter and what should be more than 1. It's also a bit like flowery I guess maybe at some points??? A lot of people don't like that but we'll see how that goes.
> 
> Anyways, hope you enjoy!  
> (ALSO THANK U SO MUCH THIS FIC IS IN THE 3000'S FOR HITS AND I JUST??? HMM?? THANK U)

Eren quickly pressed the skip button, laughing at Levi's misfortune when he was unable to stop the brunette in time.

"Stop fucking pressing the button."

"But I don't like any of these songs."

"Well just get over it and stop being such a little shit. Besides, they're good songs." Levi huffed, refocusing on the road. Eren smiled, then began to move his finger up and down in a worm-like gesture. Levi glanced down, his grip tightening on the wheel.

"Don't you fucking dare." He ground out, causing Eren's smile to grow wider. He moved his finger further forward, looking at Levi the whole while with that shit-eating grin on his face.

"Watch me." He taunted, skin now in contact with the smooth surface that was the button.

"Eren, I will stop this car and throw you out of it. You have pushed that fucking button  _twelve times already_  and if you do it again-" Eren took the final leap, pressing the button, and the whole world went to shit. The whole world being Eren's eardrums as Levi started going off, though thankfully not taking his eyes off the road. Eren could do nothing but laugh, bent over in his seat, taking in Levi's shouts of frustration.

Eventually, Levi pulled into a park outside their chosen Chinese providing place, and the two stepped out with minimal repercussions of shoving each other into the curb. Their food was also obtained with minimal efforts, the only struggle being Eren debating what he wanted and what he didn't want. They got there in the end, and soon they were pulling in the park only a few minutes away.

"Alright, so we can either sit on the grass, the actual playground or on a bench."

"Is it too late to opt for the car?" Eren joked, eyeing up the vehicle they had left behind minutes ago. 

"Well if you weren't such a shit, we could have sat in there with music nicely playing in the background. Unfortunately, you can't be trusted to not skip every second fucking song."

"Hey, all I'm saying is get some good music." Eren shrugged, and jogged over to a bench which was possibly the furthest one he could have picked. Eren soon realized however that jogging wasn't the best option, as the food in his hand began spilling out the container and into the plastic bag. 

"You're such an idiot," Levi said once the two were seated and opening their food.

"Well, at least you don't have to worry about yours. Just mine that's in a wreck" Eren opened the lid tenderly, already in motion of putting a piece of chicken in his mouth to combat the cold settled in his throat and stomach. Levi lurched forward, putting a hand tentatively on Eren's in warning. The smoothness of his skin made Eren's heart skip a beat.

"Hang on, I'll go grab you something else. You're gonna spill the sauce all over you at this rate." He left no room for discussion or complaint, as he was already standing and out of reach by the time Eren could comprehend what his friend had said. 

Eren leaned back on the bench, smiling up at the sky. It was dark, the sun having disappeared behind the distant hills hours ago. Stars had begun to come out of their shells, winking down mischievously at those who were watching from below. Eren almost felt the need to wink back. Now was a time especially for that feeling, as if he felt the stars were cheering him on and encouraging him to spend whatever time he could with Levi in a more intimate way. If only he had the courage to wink back, to both the stars and Levi himself.

Eren turned his attention to the rest of the park, wondering how Levi knew about it. There were dozens of parks around the city, most fairly popular. Eren hadn't even known that where he was even existed. It wasn't particularly close to Levi's house, but perhaps he had lived somewhere around the area when growing up. Maybe Hanji or Erwin, or another one of his friends had lived by the park, had used it not only as a means of being creative but also of growing into the teenagers they were in the present. It didn't appear exceptionally beaten down, the paint was chipped in some places but nothing screamed unbelievably old, rusted or dangerous. It was a nice place, one that Eren was sure had a lot of meaning to those who grew up on its premise.

Levi reappeared after only a few minutes, face adorning a frown as he held a plastic bag in his hands.

"What've you got there?" Eren asked, smiling welcoming.  Levi didn't seem to appear in the mood to return the gesture.

"Well since you decided to be a fucking idiot, I scavenged my car to find another old container. Oh don't give me that look, it's obviously fucking clean. Here, just tip some of the sauce into it. I'm not driving you home because you need a change of clothes before I've eaten." With a laugh and Levi's help, Eren managed to do as requested by the former. Then the two sat side by side, food in their laps, reflecting their heat between them against the cold air.

"So, high merit huh? That's pretty exciting."

"I know right, I never actually thought I'd get it."

"Bullshit, you had me helping you."

"True." Eren chuckled, taking another mouthful of food. He swallowed before asking, "I don't know if I ever asked, but what did you get on that internal?"

"I got high merit, but then it got moderated to an excellence. My bitch of a teacher wanted to make me feel so close to that excellence but not actually give it to me because like I said, she's a bitch."

"That's a bit harsh. What makes you say that?"

"I think she's just an old bat that doesn't like people expressing themselves. Like I wore a fucking band one time and she started going off at me for 'trying to be edgy' and how it wasn't cool and no one would magically like me for it." Levi shook his head. "I think some teachers need to mind their own damn business, like, focus on the ruckus going on in the back rather than me would you for one fucking second?" Eren blinked at Levi's little outburst. They didn't happen often, and when they did, they were intense.

"Wow. Well, at least you got the grade you deserved in the end."

"I suppose so." Levi huffed, taking an angry bite.

The two continued to talk and eat, the conversation stopping and beginning with ease and with no worry or stress seemingly on either side of the party. Occasionally they'd steal a bit of the others food, sometimes their attempt would fail and a chicken or spoonful of rice or stray noodle would be a tragic end in the dirt. The two boys would laugh at it, not learning from their mistakes and thus continuing to make it many times afterwards.

"Hey, how about we sit in the tower thing, above the slide. It might block the wind better." Eren offered, putting the last of his rubbish in the bin. Levi grabbed Eren's hand in answer, leading the two towards said tower. Eren smiled at the contact, mentally applauding himself for the suggestion.

Levi let go of Eren's hand to bound up the small wall, whereas Eren allowed his hand to be let go because he needed the assistance. His mouth dropped open for a second at the fact that Levi could reply purely on his ability to jump, the spring in his legs to make it up on higher surfaces. The brunette almost felt embarrassed by the fact it took him more bodily resources to achieve the same thing. If Levi noticed or thought anything of it he didn't show it, and instead sat down with his arms open. Eren raised his brow in questioning.

"It's cold." Levi explained, not lowering his arms. "For warmth." Eren laughed, and came forward to nestle himself in Levi's arms.

"Alright, what now?" Eren asked, twisted himself back to look Levi in the eye.

"I don't know, it was your idea to come up here." Levi laughed, and Eren breathed in contentment at the sound.

"I wonder what other people are doing right now." Eren said, the topic coming to mind suddenly.

"What do you mean?" The tips of Levi's fingers began tracing the lettering on the sleeve of Eren's jersey, the brunette wishing there was some way to lean even further into the touch without it being noticeable.

"Like I wonder what people are doing, I don't know. Like what's Armin doing right now, what's Hanji doing? Who's with who?"

"I doubt anyone's with anyone." Levi snorted, had now resting on Eren's shoulder. "It's a Thursday night, nothing special."

"But we're together, on a not so special Thursday." Eren breathed, keeping his head faced forward if only to hide the heat that was taking over his features. "Who says others aren't?"

"Well, I suppose we've made it special." Levi shrugged, taking Eren along with the movement. The words rang through Eren's ears before spiralling down his throat, shattering his spine to clang through his bones.

"I wonder how many other people have decided to make it a special night then." Eren's throat was dry, the words strangled from his throat while his mind was drowning in the dozens of words he wanted to say. His head was an endless ocean, his mouth a damn built up high and strong. Yet so close to bursting. Levi pressed his lips to Eren's nape, causing him to bite his lip in anticipation.

"Well, I'm pretty sure Hanji's having this naming ceremony thing for her new hamsters."

"That's odd." Eren mumbled, his head dipping forward further to give Levi more space to roam. So many questions buried deep, so many why's, yet nothing coming out. The pleasure blocking them, restraining and containing them so they wouldn't ruin the moment. 

"You're telling me." Levi's hands had found their way down to Eren's, tracing small circles as his lips graced his skin.

"What'd she call them?" Eren gasped once Levi passed over a particularly sensitive spot.

"Sonny and Bean." Eren was silent for a moment before he started shaking. Levi pulled away, leaning to look at his now silent friend.

"Eren?"

"Sonny.. Sonny and- Sonny and Bean?" Eren confirmed, biting his lip. Levi chuckled, pulling away completely from Eren.

"Yeah, Sonny and Bean. You like 'em? Erwin tried to dissuade her, but he couldn't-" By that point Eren had completely lost all self-control, and the laughter began to leave his mouth in large belts.

"I can't fucking believe it- she- I mean." He continued to laugh, doubling over and becoming further encouraged with Levi joined in. 

"Well yeah, she's a bit odd."

"Why the fuck did she call them that?" Eren lifted himself to have a clearer airway.

"Well Sonny was named Sonny because at the pet store she heard the employee calling the hamsters Sonnies and Dotties as in sons and daughters, and she just liked the sound of Sonny."

"Alright alright, understandable," Eren said, finally calming down. "And what about bean?"

"It's pretty self-explanatory when you see him. He just sort of looks like a bean. A small cream coloured bean. Here, I'll show you."

That was something Levi probably should not have done, as Eren lost all ability to function properly after seeing Hanji's hamster.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Levi pulled the car up in Eren's driveway, leaving it on. Though it was obvious that Eren had to get out at some point, neither of them made any attempts to start the farewell. The lingered, and Eren didn't mind it at all. If he could he would have spent the entirety of the night with Levi, would even invite him inside if it weren't eleven o'clock at night and a Thursday night with school the next day. Finally letting the silence get to him, Eren twisted in his seat to face Levi. Eren had managed to leave the music alone, now playing quietly in the background. Something he couldn't recognize, but it wasn't anything bad.

"So, thanks for tonight." He smiled, reaching for the buckle of his seat belt. The expression on Levi's face was the only thing stopping him from pressing the release button. Or at least that was what he liked to think what was stopping him.

"All goods. I mean hey, you're the one who got the high merit." Levi smiled back, though it seemed slightly empty. Eren tried not to think too much about it.

"Like you said, there was no doubt with you on my side." Eren finally made the final push to undo the seat belt, and cringed at how fast it flew backwards, back into it's spot. Eren turned to put a hand on the door, however his phone which was laying forgotten in his lap dropped to the floor.

"Fucking hell." Eren murmured, but Levi was already reaching before Eren could process the command in his body. Instead of simply handing the device back to Eren, Levi kept his hand on Eren's thigh once the phone was restored to it's original place. Eren turned slowly back to Levi, mouth parted slightly. Levi said nothing, only continued to look at Eren with that same expression that stopped him from leaving the car earlier. 

He couldn't say anything, couldn't command his body to move or his thoughts to process or form, as if he had been paralyzed by a poison of Levi's touch and stare. Though if it were a poison, it were as sweet as an antidote. It infected him, seeped into his veins and settled while he was rendered immobile.

He wanted Levi's hands to roam further up his thigh, to spread across his skin and to sink into every inch that he had to offer, which is why he didn't think twice when he saw Levi's eyes flutter and his head tilt forward slightly. Eren managed to avoid looking at Levi's lips, to keep his eyes focused on Levi's as he too leaned forward slightly. Not so much to appear obvious, but just enough to mimic Levi's apparent want.

But then water flushed out the poison, an antidote sweeping out any trace of poison that there ever was. Levi leaned back into his car door, smirking slightly. Eren collected himself, praying that his face couldn't be seen in the small light.

"I'll see you tomorrow." Levi said, the smirk staying.

"Yeah, see you tomorrow." Eren nodded, smiling as normally as he could. Making sure to not forget about his phone again, Eren hurried out of the car. He waved goodbye to Levi as he pulled out of the driveway, and soon enough Eren was alone with just the mosquitoes for company. 


	35. Outer Space Shakes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mardi Gras is introduced, benchmarks suck. A lil bit of gay at the end :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who fuckin' did shite on her exams!  
> Dis bitch!
> 
> If you happen to be doing NCEA, I hope your exam results are to your liking and congrats if they are!!! If not, they won't matter in like five years anyway so you're fine.
> 
> I don't know how I feel about this chapter :/ I've also been feeling really dizzy so sorry if it's not very good.
> 
> MASSIVE HELP NEEDED,
> 
> So Mardi Gras is introduced here and I need to know if ya'll want to see a chapter on it or if you think it'd be boring. It'd be like a short fun feel, friend-based chapter full of mischief and mayhem because this friend group is a mess. Idk, like I want this to follow the timeline of actual NZ school and for me, that includes boring shit like benchmarks and Mardi Gras so I feel weird leaving it out. If it's boring though and you'd rather the gay shit come sooner just let me know, I don't mind either way.
> 
> Alrighty thank you, hope you somewhat enjoy!

Eren tossed a piece of crumpled paper at Armin, containing his smile when the boy just stared back in disappointment.

In the background Connie droned on about his weekend plans with Sasha, about how they were going on some grand nature walk for their anniversary. Jean and Marco were having some silent conversation, probably about how they had to break up due to Jean's small dick size ( At least that's what Eren liked to think), and the teacher was majorly failing in his plan to engage the class in the conversation.

"Boys please, we don't have much time with your benchmarks coming up."

"Did you just assume our genders?" Thomas joked, smiling when the class began to laugh. The teacher sighed before giving Thomas a very wired, tired smile.

"My apologies.  _Students-_ "

"Nah man that's just patronizing." Connie yawned, turning back to continue the spouting of his plans. Another laugh was shared between the class.

"Do you guys even understand how important Mardi Gras is?" Mr said again, sitting in his chair as if he'd taken a fatal blow.

"If it's so important then why did they put it so close to benchmarks? Literally two days after benchmarks?" Eren didn't recognize who'd spoken.

"Al,right that's enough out of you lot. Can you please all just listen for one minute?" When no one aside from Armin began to pay attention, the teacher rolled his eyes and continued anyway.

"Well for those who may have forgotten or for any of those who are new, every tutor class takes part in Mardi Gras. A theme gets chosen, then we have to choose either an activity or food item to sell. Some classes even choose both. Then, on the day we sell whatever it is we're selling and it's generally a fun tradition." Eren rolled his eyes. The past two years it had rained on the day and they'd had to move into the hall, which was one of the worst decisions ever made and whoever made it should have been fired. Being right after benchmarks just meant that the organisation of it was rushed, so it was just a stressful time. Each year, in their tutor class at least, it was one group that was in charge. In year nine the popular group took over, then in year ten it'd been the smart group, and the previous year it had been them. There was a small group of three in the back of the class, but aside from that anyone was up for being in charge of Mardi Gras that year. Which terrified Eren to no end.

"So," Mr continued, "This years theme is space! I was thinking we could do something like, Outer Space Shakes or something!" He threw his hands up, hoping to emit some sort of reaction from the teenagers before him. When there was none, he looked like he wanted to quit the job right then and there. Eren sighed deeply, feeling bad for the guy. He was way under-payed for what he had to deal with on a daily basis.

"That'd be cool. And maybe we could have little Space Dust Donuts on the side." Eren said, smiling at the teacher in an attempts to apologize for the lack of enthusiasm from his class. Connie caught on, and began to nod his head.

"Yeah, and we could have like little aliens inside the donuts and have them as UFO's!"

"I still like the Space Dust Donuts name though, then we could just have cinnamon donuts so it's not too complicated." Armin said, getting into the conversation.

"We could also have the table as a planet!" Marco joined in, his eyes as bright as the stars themselves.

"We could dress up as aliens maybe?" Jean murmured, shrugging his shoulders.

"What if a few of you are people from NASA and a few of you are aliens?" The teacher offered, and so on and so forth the conversation continued. Eren looked proudly around the class as various people began to put forward their ideas. 

"Well, that settles that then. We even have a few minutes to spare of tutor. So, who's willing to actually put all this together?"

"We will!" Armin and Marco announced, synchronized. Usually, Eren would have shot them down or at least argued, but the way they were so excited about it...

"Alright yeah, we'll do it." Eren agreed, nodding to his friends.

"Great!" The bell went then, and though technically their discussion had ended, it didn't stop them from mentioning it as they went to their separate classes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eren pulled the finger at Levi, turning away with a glare. It took everything to not let his smile shine through. As expected Levi didn't say anything or make a move toward him. After a moment or two, Eren turned back around to see what Levi was doing. He found the male just sitting there, arms crossed and looking as if the world had just taking a massive shit on him.  _He's very convincing. A lot more than I am._ Eren turned to his phone, reading through their past texts.

Couples fight, that was a natural thing. It also leaves a window for questioning if they'll last, which is why Levi thought it would be a perfect idea to have them pretend fight. The whole idea seemed almost childish to Eren, but he couldn't fault it. As long as they both managed to not give themselves away, it should work out in the end. 

"Um, Eren?" The brunette looked up at Marco, putting on a sickly sweet smile. 

"Yeah?"

"Uh, you seem kind of... pissed off? Are you okay?" Eren almost felt bad that he was using Marco for the rumour. He was sweet and kind and caring, so much so that he'd be willing to make sure everyone was fine, which was why he was the perfect person to fool. He'd ask around about why Eren was acting the way he was, and he was also smart enough to connect it to Levi. So yeah, he was being a bit of an ass and he almost felt guilty.

Almost.

"Yeah, I'm fine. People are just assholes sometimes." Eren threw a pointed look over his shoulder. When his eyes met Levi's however, they weren't the stormy angry eyes that were supposed to be on show. They were soft and silent. Eren quickly looked away, hoping that the pink dusting his cheeks wouldn't give him away.

"If you say so..." Marco trailed off, but when it was apparent Eren wasn't going to say anymore he backed off. He began talking to Erwin, who was sitting on the bench with Hanji dancing around him.

Eren watched the two for a moment. The duo complexed him, made him question just how much they new of the truth around the rumour he and Levi were spreading. It didn't matter how physical they were or how much they 'fought', it didn't matter if Levi took Eren's hand out in the open and he blushed like mad. They were never fazed, and never commented on it. It brought up the uncomfortable thought that Levi might act that way with everyone, not just with Eren. He texted Levi, making sure to make an angry show of it. 

_Hey, are u sure Hanji and Erwin don't know about us?_

Eren looked up to see if Levi saw the text. Said boy did, looking down and smiling bitterly. He typed out a reply- even more angrily than Eren had,- and walked away to sit next to Erwin. Even further from Eren. His phone went off, sending vibrations through his hands and shattering his bones.

_I'm sure they don't know. Why would I tell them?_

Eren was halfway through his reply when Marco stood.

"Hey, I'm gonna head back to tutor for a bit. Jean needs me." It took everything he had not to roll his eyes. Jean always needed Marco, even when the freckled boy wasn't around Jean was going on about him. As much as it was sweet and an obvious crush, Eren couldn't help but feel just a little bit annoyed by it. Why couldn't Jean just tell Marco how amazing he was to his face rather than to everyone else who could literally not care less about how amazing Marco looked in the morning?

But then he felt like an idiot saying that, because he wasn't exactly the best at telling people how he felt.  _At least I keep it to myself._

"Can I come?" Eren tried to sound as pleasant as possible. It was harder, because even though he and Levi were supposed to be fighting, Eren wanted nothing more than to sit, talk with and to touch Levi.

"Yeah, sure." Marco smiled again, and Eren didn't look back.

"How do you think you went with your bio internal?" Eren asked after a while spent in silence. Though he found it hard to find things to talk about with Marco sometimes, biology was something that could always spark a conversation.

"I think I did alright, what about you?"

"Fine. I think, anyway, I'm actually really scared to get the results back."

"Well, I'm sure you did fine." Marco said with an award winning smile, and Eren couldn't help but feel guilty this time that he wished it was someone else's smile he was seeing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

_No, Connie would die in two seconds. You have too much faith in him._

Eren snorted at Mikasa's text.

_So you seriously think, that if the school was invaded by giant titans, that Armin would be more likely to survive than Connie?????_

_Yes. Armin would run, Connie would fuck around with it._

_What about Jean and Marco?_

_Marco would probably try and shake it's hand and find peace. He's got like, half the chance of surviving than anyone else._

_You're so wrong._

_Whatever. Anyway, Armin updated me on what's happening with his competition thing._

_Why'd he tell you and not me? Betrayal :(_

_Because he knew that you'd forget to tell me. Anyway so it's the weekend after next weekend and turns out Marco's going as well and taking Connie and Jean. The competition starts at like 12 so we can do whatever until Armin and Marco's team is actually on. Then the next day there's this prize giving banquet thing and then we go home._

_That text was way too long._

_Shut up. Go back to your work._

_You texted me first!_

_Because I was bored, you shouldn't have replied. Talk to you later._

Eren was about to put his phone away when he saw Levi's contact. There was a text, one he must not have seen due to their 'arguing'. Eren frowned, opening it.

_Hey._

The brunette snorted.

_Hey. You alright?_

Eren wasn't expecting to get a reply considering Levi was in maths, but he wasn't complaining.

_Yeah. We haven't really talked today and I wanted to catch up._

A smile made it's way onto Eren's face.

_Aw, thanks. But Idk if I really wanna talk to you right now, I'm kinda mad at you. *Rolling eyes emoji here if I could actually bring myself to use one.*_

_You're the one who liked some other guy's Instagram photo *Innocent face emoji*_

_*There's no such thing as an innocent face emoji emoji*_

_*Shut the fuck up emoji*_

Eren laughed, earning a few side glances. He bit his lip to try and contain it. 

_Thanks, now I look like a weirdo for laughing in class._

_At least you don't have Hanji literally dancing on your shoulders._

_Excuse me?_

_-Photo received._

The picture was of Hanji resting her head on Levi's shoulder while the rest of her body disappeared off the side of it. She must have been balanced between two people as if she were standing, and she was in the middle of doing the Macarina.

_Dear God_

_I know._

_Where's ur teacher?_

_Who knows, he never showed up. I don't know whether he will. I mean, can you blame him?_

_Not really, not at all._

_What are you doing? Are you in hospitality?_

_Yup. I'm just holding a pen really. I don't know what we're doing._

_You should be holding something else. How do you not know what you're doing?_

Eren's breath hitched in his throat as he read the text.  _Did he just..._ He decided to play it cool. It wasn't like Levi was very possibly flirting with him over text casually in maths class. Not at all.

_Lol a good attendance? I don't know man, I just feel like this class is really kicking my ass at this moment._

_I bet it is. I mean, who wouldn't want to kick your ass?_

It wasn't an odd thing to say, was it? Was it a flirt? Eren had never flirted with anyone before, though he'd had a few girls try it out on him. He either never knew what they meant by what they were saying or he just found them creepy.  _God, maybe it's because I'm gay. Something to figure out another day._

_Me, I don't think my body bends that way._

Eren put his phone away and didn't feel it buzz again. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

_ A week later. _

Eren skimmed through his maths book, seeing nothing but random numbers and scattered letters. His logic was that if he was at least reading over his notes, some of the information would be retained.

"Eren, you're wasting your time. You may as well just spend it relaxing." Connie mumbled, looking as if he were in fact about to take a nap.

"It works for Armin though, how does that work?" Thomas exclaimed, looking over to their friend was was indeed bent over a book. The conversation didn't faze him, and he continued on.

"Armin's some sort of study fiend." Eren concluded, snapping his book shut. "It's kinda creepy, actually."

"I can still hear you guys."

"Oh good, then you can tell us your secret on studying fifteen minutes before a benchmark."

"Leave him alone you guys." Marco said before staring back off into space.

"You alright man?" Connie leaned over to look for closely at his friend. "You look a little pale."

"He's just nervous, get out of his face." Jean growled the last part, frowning as usual.

"I'm sure he can speak for himself." Eren noted, also leaning closer to Marco. "Why don't you be a good boyfriend and try to distract him?"

"I'm not his boyfriend." Jean rolled his eyes and resumed his silence. Eren smirked, knowing that he'd won. The brunette leant back, smiling at his freckled friend.

"Seriously Marco, you'll be fine. And it's just a benchmark, you've still got the real thing to look forward to."

"Yeah, but what if I'm sick? Or something happens, or what if someone dies!?"

"Not gonna happen buddy. You're smart and you've studied, you'll ace this. How about-"

"Alright you lot, in you go. Don't touch the papers, phones switched off and in your bags at the front." Eren and the rest of the students all filled into the room at the teacher's command. The walls were covered with cheap paper to cover the equations and whatnot, and the desks were scattered and spread out from each other. Eren had always preferred to sit at the back, worried that if he needed to look out the window the teacher might think that he was trying to cheat. It always seemed ridiculous to Eren- who would actually be stupid enough to actually try and cheat on an exam?

Eren did as instructed, dropping his phone in the bag before double checking that it was turned off. He claimed a seat right at the back by the window, and looked up at the clock. The supervisor began going through all the rules and regulations, as bare as they were, once everyone was seated. After five minutes of grueling boredom, she finally looked up with a smile.

"Good luck, your three hours begins now."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Oh my god no Armin, I got 46!"

"How did you get that?"

"I don't know but I must have something terribly wrong if you got 78!"

"Or I did something-"

"Don't be stupid now Armin, you always get this shit right. Ugh." Eren banged his head on the window of the bus.

"Stop that, people are looking." Armin whispered, looking around in fear. For his friend's sake, Eren stopped.

"Miss is gonna totally chew me out for this, she'll say something like 'come on Eren, this was the first thing we covered!' and I'm just gonna shrug my shoulders and she'll threaten to call my parents again."

"I'm sure it won't be that bad. And like you said to Marco, it's just a benchmark, there's still the real thing-"

"Press the button." Eren cut off his friend as he saw their bus stop was approaching. Armin leaned forward to do so.

"Seriously Eren, it'll be fine."

"I guess. Do we have to study? I'm not really in the mood anymore."

"You weren't in the mood in the first place." Armin scoffed as he stood.

"I know, but now I'm like, not in the mood squared." The two thanked to the bus driver before making their way down the street to Armin's house.

"You possibly fail a maths benchmark and then you go on to make a maths pun?"

"Armin!" Eren whined. "You said I'd be fine."

"Relax." Armin laughed. "Besides, what else would we do? I can't imagine Levi wanting to go out once he'd gone through the efforts of bringing all his study stuff."

"Oh right, I forgot Levi was coming." Eren found he had a new bounce in his step, and suddenly he couldn't wait to reach Armin's house.

"You don't sound too happy about it. Are you two fighting again?" Eren frowned when Armin's words sunk in.

"What do you mean? We were never fighting."

"Marco said that something was going on with you guys a couple days ago." Armin slid Eren a side glance.

Right, he'd forgotten about that. Well, at least now their rumour would burn for a while longer if Armin now thought that they fought regularly.

"Oh, yeah. That. We're fine now, I mean like- we're not fighting anymore. I really did just forget." Eren mentally smacked himself for needing to stutter his way through the sentence.

"Great. What's the time? I think he said he'd be here around 2." Eren checked his phone, smiling at how close it was to Levi's arrive.

"It's one thirty." The two friends turned into the drive way.

After putting their bags down and changing, the two just sat around talking for the next half an hour. Neither were in a hurry to begin studying, and Levi still hadn't arrived.

In fact, it wasn't until 2:15 that Levi finally knocked on the door.

"Hey," Armin said with a warm smile, stepping aside for Levi to walk in.

"Hey." Levi replied, eyes settling on Eren.

"Hi." Eren breathed. Because they'd been on study leave, and Eren and Levi didn't have many of the same subjects, it'd been a while since they'd seen each other. The only reason they could see each other then was because it was time spent studying.

"Well, if it isn't Eren. I'm surprised you're on time." The brunette rolled his eyes.

"Shut up. I came with Armin."

"Right. Sorry I couldn't come with you guys, I had to take Izzy to an appointment."

"It's fine." Armin closed the door behind him. "I know we should have, but we haven't started studying yet."

"Oh okay, all goods." The three relocated to Armin's room, Levi and Eren on the bed while Armin placed himself on the floor.

"Since you guys only take one science, I was thinking that Levi and I can work on physics while you work on biology Eren, and then I join in for bio while Levi continues physics and then we all do our own thing while I do some chemistry." Armin announced, already scattering his books on the floor in front of him. Eren finally caught on as to why Armin selected the floor, the books looked bigger than the blonde's face.

"Have you ever dropped a pile of those on your foot before?" Levi asked curiously, reaching down to pick one up. Eren quickly averted his eyes from the briefly shown pale skin that seemed to be staring out at him.

"Thankfully not, but Jean was unlucky enough that the day he decided to give me a scare I was holding a few of these. He had bruise for two weeks on the side of his knee." Eren let out a shrill laugh at the memory. It had been one of the best moments of his life, and watching Armin freak out and apologize profusely was one of the peaks in his existence.

"Poor bugger." Levi snickered, pulling out his own physics book. He put in headphones, and began to work on his studying.  _So he's serious about studying, huh?_ Armin turned to Eren with a devilish grin.

"Right then Eren, cells."

Eren had never heard such a frightening sentence, or a frightening face from Armin before in his life.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Silence filled the room like a thin sheet of ice.. Eren tapped his pencil lightly on the page, eyes skimming over the sentence. No matter how many times he read it, the meaning behind it didn't come any more clearer. He glanced up at the clock above Armin's desk.

_4:15. Still anther fifteen until we can talk again._

Eren began to now tap the pencil against his head, hoping that maybe his problem was lack of blood flow to the brain. Now that he thought about it they really should have made an exception to the study silence- an Eren desperately needing Armin's help exception.

The next fifteen minutes passed by tantalizingly slow, and as soon as the clock struck 4:30 words were flying out of Eren's mouth.

"Goddamn I'm confused, what the fuck are enzyme inhibitors?"

"Shut up Eren." Levi mumbled. Eren stared open mouthed back.

"Well, excuse me for needing help!"

"No, he's right." Armin added in, not looking up from his paper. "Stop talking please." Eren redirected his flabbergasted-nest to Armin.

"What are you two-"

"Eren seriously," Levi leaned forward obnoxiously slow, a finger to his lips, and eyes widened ever so slightly. "Shh" Levi went back to doing his work, and Eren could only stare at his two friends in confusion. Until he realized what was going on.

"Guys, it's 4:30. We can talk now. Silent peace treaty over." Both Levi and Armin looked up at Eren startled.

"Seriously?" Armin whipped his head to look at the clock, eyes widening as he saw that it was indeed 4:30.

"Damn, it didn't even feel like an hour." Levi muttered, stretching after he put down his book.

"I know right?" Armin stood to do his own stretching. "But now that I think about it, I am hungry. Do you guys want something?"

"I'm good with anything." Levi said.

Then he reached out, and grabbed Eren's hand

"Okay, cool. What abut you Eren?" Armin hadn't noticed Levi's advance. Eren couldn't say anything as he took in the sight, his hand in hand with Levi's.

"I'm sorry for telling you to shut up." Levi quietly clarified. Rather than letting go, his grip tightened. It was then that Armin's gaze fell upon the boys' hand holding.

"It's okay." Eren breathed, then snapped his head towards Armin. "Uh, yeah no- I'm good with anything as well." He nodded to Armin.

"Cool. I'll be back in a minute then." Armin awkwardly excused himself from the room, slipping out the door. As soon as the boy was out of sight, Levi smirked and slid his hand out of Eren's.

"Are you actually sorry for telling me to shut up?" Eren asked accusingly.

"Not really. Though, if it hurt your feelings, then I guess I am."

"I not a kid." Eren rolled his eyes.

"I know you're not." Levi mumbled, and leaned in to kiss Eren on the cheek. His lips were soft as they brushed against his skin. Eren began to calculate how far away the closest hospital was should his heart fail.

"Hey, do you guys-" Levi jerked back as if he'd received an electric shock. Eren could only look down and hope that his blush wasn't too prominent on his face.

"Oh, um..." Armin fumbled for a moment, not quite knowing what to say. He shook his head clear. "Granddad offered if you guys want pizza? He's happy to shout."

"Yeah, sounds great." Eren mentally slapped himself for how much of a squeak his reply resembled.

"I'm down." Levi certainly had it a lot more together than Eren did.

"Cool." Armin nodded and ducked out of the room again.

Eren put his head down even further and re-read the question a fourth time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reminder to let me know if I should do a Mardi Gras chapter or not. Thanks :)


	36. Space Dust Donuts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Connie and Eren have some fun wreaking havoc in a supermarket, Armin Marco and Jean let out their artsy sides, and Mardi Gras makes a grand entrance as well as our fav bi boy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter ended up being A LOT longer than I planned. I don't really like the writing all that much, probably because I stayed up until 4 am writing it and I currently feel as if I'm on another plane of existence.
> 
> I'm getting super frustrated because I just wanna get to writing all the gay shit but like hmmm I've gotta get through a few more chapters. Like I'm just as frustrated as you guys here.
> 
> Anyways, hope you enjoy!

"That was the worst week of benchmarks in my life EVER!" Connie belted, his head falling onto the desk.

"You've only had one other."

"And now you've only got one more." Marco smiled, patting Connie's shoulder. 

"And the actual exams." Armin chimed in.

Connie let out a groan in response.

"Alright boys, I've got the list." Their tutor teacher held the paper above his head. "So I managed to get Thomas and his group of friends in charge of the space shakes, so all you have to do is pre-make the doughnuts tonight. Also, Moblit's sick so you guys will have to do the sign as well sorry. Everything you need is on here."

"Alright, thanks Mr." Eren sighed as he took the paper. "Right, let's go lads!" Eren had to practically drag Connie out of his seat.

The group consisting of Eren, Marco, Jean Armin and Connie bussed their way to Marco's house. After half an hour of intense snacking and mucking around, they began to set to work on the doughnuts.

"These are gonna be so fucking good." Connie smiled as he looked at the recipes' photo. His mood had improved, and benchmarks had completely vanished from his mind it seemed. 

"I doubt ours are gonna be half as good as those." Jean looked over his shoulder, face grim.

"Be optimistic Jean!" Marco playfully hit his friend on the head. It was like he'd flicked a switch, because suddenly Jean couldn't be more excited to be baking alongside Marco.

"Did Mr even get the right recipe? I thought we were just doing mini ones?" Armin pointed out. The group gathered around the recipe

"Maybe we just have to shape them small?" Marco suggested. No one else could think of an alternative, nor could they be bothered to search for a new recipe, so they were left to hope that it'd work out in the end. 

"Alright, so we need flour, butter, sugar, salt eggs and yeast. Stat." Eren read out the ingredients, and soon enough each one was placed on the bench. Except...

"Um, I think we're out of yeast," Marco said as he rummaged through the cupboard, panic eminent in his voice.

"What do you mean?" Eren came over to help in the search, but came up empty-handed.

"Uuuuuggghhh." Connie tapped his head to the wall. Repeatedly. 

"That's okay, we can just go get some," Armin said, already heading towards the door.

"Oh yeah sure, we're just gonna go and walk to the supermarket and get more yeast," Jean said through clenched teeth, though still went to put on his shoes.

"Hang on, we don't all need to go. How about some of us stay behind and work on the sign, while the rest get the yeast?" Eren suggested. Everyone nodded their heads thoughtfully, and so it was decided that Armin Jean and Marco would stay behind and do the sign while Eren and Connie went down to the supermarket. It wasn't ideal, but at least the sign would be done quicker.

"Please don't destroy anything, you don't have enough money to pay for property damage," Marco said with a tense smile. He was the only one who was worried about the arrangements that the group had come up with. He insisted that at least either himself or Armin accompanied them, but that didn't sit well with just about everyone else.

Eren closed the door behind him, and off he and Connie went down to the store.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Alright, so if the table is gonna be designed as a planet, does that mean we should make the sign planet related?" Armin drew up a title on the paper in front of him.

"I guess so. Maybe we could make it like a rock or something, and make it look like the writing is chiselled in?" Marco began measuring the size of the actual board that they were going to use for the sign.

"Well if what we're selling is outer space shakes and space dust doughnuts, shouldn't we make it themed like that? Or are we really going for a matching aesthetic with the table?" Jean flopped on the bed once his suggestion was made.

"This is harder than I thought it would be." Armin laughed nervously. "I mean we should probably start with the whole set up first, that might make it easier. Like we've always just put our sign on the front of the stall, but I've seen some stalls where they go full out and have stands."

"I don't think we have enough resources to do anything grand like that." Marco sank down. He'd always wanted to win the prize for best sign or best stall, but their class never seemed to be organised enough to actually pull it off.

"What if we were placed outside a classroom?" Jean asked, sitting up. "Could we request that? Then we could just like blue-tack the sign above our stall."

"Ooh, what if we had it like a meteor?" Armin exclaimed, writing the idea down without any confirmation from his friends.

"And then on the front of the stall, we can have a sign that's designed like NASA?" The three friends looked around at each other, a new motivation and strength filling their lungs and veins.

"Alright then, let's get to it." Jean smiled.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"How many types of yeast could there possibly be?" Eren mumbled, weighing up two different containers in his hand.

"Do you want me to look it up?" Connie asked, holding his phone up.

"I already have, the recipe doesn't exactly clarify what yeast to use. How much money did Marco give us?"

"$20, why?"

"I'm thinking we just buy a bunch of them and hope that at least one of them is the right one. I mean, we've practically done yeast grocery shopping that'll last their entire lifetime right?"

"I guess so." Connie laughed. Eren picked out three different yeasts that he thought might be fit for the recipe.

"Alright I've got them, let's go. I don't trust Jean to not fuck up-" Eren was interrupted by a crash behind him. The boy whipped his head around, and instantly his world tipped.

"Oh my God, Connie!"

"I'm sorry!" Connie looked down shocked. Somehow, he'd managed to knock down a pole that was supporting the rack next to him.

"How did you even manage that?" Eren fumbled with the containers.  _Don't you dare drop the holy grail. Or should I say the holy grain. Hehe._

"I don't know, I just sort of-"

"We don't have time, just fix it."

"You think I know how? Sorry if I'm mistaken, but I don't think I've ever worked in repair before."

"Clearly, you seem to fucking break everything you touch. Just rest it against the shelf." Connie attempted to do as Eren suggested, but it wouldn't stay. The pair was growing frustrated as the pole kept falling over, making more noise and increasing the possibility of unwanted attention.

"Just put it under the shelf, no one will-"

"...Yeah, I think it was over here." Eren and Connie looked to each other with wide eyes. They launched forward in a silent run, Connie sliding the pole under the yeast shelf as he went past.

_Shitshitshitshitshitshit._

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Armin finished the final line additions on the meteor. He leaned back and smiled down at his work. It wasn't the prettiest piece of work, but it was something. He looked over to see how Marco and Jean were going on the hologram-designed signs that were to go on the front of their stall. They were moving at a much slower rate than him, as having two of them meant that had ideas to bounce of each other. Armin smiled at their closeness and comfort in conversation. While Eren vocalized his frustration of Jean not admitting his feelings to Marco, he himself found it oddly adorable and heartwarming.

He stood to go grab the paint from Marco's room. He took a quick glance at the clock, wondering what was taking Eren and Connie so long.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I feel really bad for leaving without saying anything. They can't even find the pole!"

"Well where the hell did you put it?" Eren hissed, clutching the yeast to his chest as if it would be taken away from him at any minute. He hadn't felt the need to be so protective of something since Carl, who he had reluctantly parted with so Levi could look after him for a while.

"I just slid it under one of the shelves, I don't know! They work here, they should be able to find it."

"This would have all been fine if you didn't break it." Eren didn't really blame Connie, and his friend knew that. Accidents happened sometimes. Though it didn't make the situation any easier.

"I know."

"Let's just go, before Marco comes looking for us." Connie reluctantly agreed, though they got all of four steps before guilt clawed too deeply in Eren's stomach.

"You can't do it either." Connie grinned, punching his friend in the shoulder. "Pussy."

"Says you. Come on then, let's go tell them that it was an accident-"

"Oh nooo no no no, we are  _not_ telling them that I did it. We've only got $20 after all."

"Okay, well what's your plan then?"

Connie's answering smile was no short of terrifying.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Can you please pass me the glitter?" Marco asked Armin. The blonde boy did so absently, completely engrossed in his work. His brushstrokes were quick and easy, smooth across the cardboard. Marco then took a look at his and Jean's creation.

It wasn't as vibrant as Armin's in terms of colours, but he hoped it would do the job of convincing people to buy their products. He was rather proud of what they'd achieved- especially due to the fact that it was only the three of them who came up with such a complex set up for their stall. Marco looked up at the clock, frowning. Eren and Connie had been gone for an hour and a half. Sure Eren and Connie messed around a lot when they did, well, anything together, but this was ridiculous. Marco knew he shouldn't have let them go alone, but with both Jean and Marco so focused... he kept quiet, and returned to his painting.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hello good Sirs, are you two alright?" Eren made a mental note to slap Connie later for using that tone of voice with strangers.

The two employees frowned in confusion at Connie.

"Yes? Can we help you with anything?" Eren was more than tempted to ask for their opinions on yeast, but felt that it wouldn't be particularly appropriate for their current situation.

"We're just browsing. You seem to be doing the same thing."  _Very subtle, Connie. Very subtle._

"We're just looking for a missing pole. It's done a runner."

"Oh, that sucks." Connie nodded thoughtfully. "Need any help looking?" The two employees looked at each other, once again confused. Eren couldn't blame them, it wasn't every day a random teenage boy struck up a conversation and offered to help find a missing pole.

"You really don't have to-"

"Nonsense!" Connie was really laying it on thick. Without any more discussion, Connie began looking in random places. He started with looking on the shelves, then moved onto peering around corners. Finally after looking in a few more places, he came upon the bottom of the yeast shelf.

"Ah ha!" He pulled out the pole, a triumphant smile plastered on his face. "Pole located!" The two employees could only look on, star struck. 

"Damn, thanks. Are you sure there isn't anything we can help you with? To pay back the favour." One of the employees said with a nervous smile.

"Nah, we're good. Just wanted to help out-"

"Actually," Eren cut off Connie. He looked to the employees with a helpless smile. "What do you two know of yeast?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Man, I can't believe how excited that guy got about yeast. What was his name again?"

"Kinkade I think. And same, of all the things to dedicate your life to being interested in, what makes you choose yeast?" Eren opened the door into Marco's house, fumbling with the bag containing the yeast in his hand.

"God only knows. I got massive gay vibes from him, did you notice that?" Connie took the bag from Eren, and the brunette snorted at his friend's comment.

"What, you think the yeast thing has something to do with him being gay?"  _Am I next?_

"Oh, nothing, just something I noticed." The two made their way into the house.

"We're back!" Eren announced, dropping the yeast dramatically on the counter. 

"Took you long enou,h." Jean said. Eren was about to snap back a reply when he saw that a smile had graced Jean's features.

"Woah, these look great you guys!" Connie rushed forward to get a better view. "Damn, now I'm glad we forgot the yeast."

"You did get some, right?" Armin asked, eyes squinted. Connie waved him off.

"Yeah yeah, get got it. Easy peasy." Armin tossed a glance at Eren to confirm. Eren just raised his eyebrows tiredly. Armin gave him a knowing smile.

"Right, we'll finish up and get back to the doughnut making then!" Marco said. Eren smiled when he noticed that Marco had leaned comfortably into Jean's side.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Wow, you guys really went all out with this." Their tutor teacher could only look stunned at the presentation. "You guys sure it only took you one night?"

"One night that felt like a million." Connie mumbled, his head rested on the desk.  _More like a billion._ The doughnuts had taken about an hour and a half, half an hour of that time being cooking and an hour of mishaps and trying to work out how baking actually worked, and things like how much cinnamon was too much and too little. While the signs had been completed earlier on, more ideas had kept on coming throughout the night and they couldn't bring themselves to ignore the ideas. So, not only had they made the signs and doughnuts, but they'd also followed through with the plan to make little aliens to put inside the doughnuts. The group had also decided to made small ornaments such as little UFO's and planets to add to the stall's design. They hadn't gone to bed until after midnight.

"Wow, I am impressed. We're sure to win something this year." Soon it wasn't just the tutor teacher marveling at the stall. Their own tutor class was sharing their excitement, and even students from other tutor classes were giving their opinions on the design.

One moment, the space outside A block was mostly empty aside from a few people still setting up. The next, it was as if a real meteor had exploded and released hundreds of humans from it's center.

Students hovered around stalls, people already shouting their advertisements, coins and notes were being passed around like there was no tomorrow. Eren Armin and Connie had the first shift, while Jean Marco and Thomas had the next. Due to the former buzz about their stall, a mass of people was quickly surrounding them and placing their orders for Outer Space Shakes and Space Dust Donuts. Money was going in and out quicker than Eren could process, and he watched as their container quickly filled. He scanned the area, looking at the other stalls. Most were doing equally well, and he even found a few stalls that rivaled his own. His personal favourite was NASA nuggets, just opposite his own stall.

"Hey, Earth to Eren." Eren's head snapped forward at the familiar voice.

Levi stood before him, a small smile on his face. Eren instantly stood up straighter, a smile rising to his face on instinct alone.

"Oh, Levi, hey! Long time no see." The time gap hit Eren all at once, and in that moment he wanted nothing more than to be in Levi's arms. Unfortunately, it wasn't just a table that was between them.

"Yeah, I guess it has been." Levi looked around the stall, frowning when Connie took a sneaky sip from a random Outer Space Shake. Armin smacked him on the arm. "Nice stall."

"Thanks." Eren smiled. Though he'd heard that same compliment repeated to him countless times, hearing Levi say it made something flutter in his stomach. "Took us all night."

"Of course you guys procrastinated it." Levi let out a soft laugh and shook his head. The smile lingered. Eren's heart rate increased, and he was afraid once again that his heart would fail and he'd have no one but the school nurse to go to. Eren was left speechless, and almost didn't hear Levi's next words.

"Shakes  _and_ doughnuts huh? Bet that's been a lot of work." Thankfully Connie replied for the stunned brunette.

"You have no fucking idea. I can't wait till our shift is over and those other bastards get to suffer what we have."

"When does your shift finish?" Eren fished out his phone to look at the time.

"Five minutes. Damn, time's actually flown by really fast." He put his phone away. "What stall's yours?" Levi turned and pointed to the stall which was just outside D block.

"That one. Meltdown Meteorites." Eren laughed at the pun. 

"Who came up with that?"

"I don't know, some dumb ass in our class."

"When's your shift?"

"Well," Levi smirked, "I was scheduled to be on now, but apparently my face was too unpleasant and I was quickly replaced." Eren laughed, staring at Levi in disbelief. When it was apparent Levi wasn't joking, he couldn't help but grin wider.

"Damn, you're serious?"

"Dead. It's okay, I really don't care. I hate Mardi Gras. I guess I should be glad it's not raining this year though." Eren nodded in agreement. That was one thing he and his group were extremely thankful for- otherwise, their stall would have probably been completely ruined.

Levi stayed for the next five minutes, standing off to the side as Eren dealt with customers. As promised, Marco  Jean and Thomas appeared on the dot. Eren departed with Levi, Armin needing to need the bathroom and Connie wanting to take advantage of the canteen line being non-existent.

"Alright, where are we going first?" Eren asked, already scanning for the candy floss he'd seen advertised.

"I don't mind, where do you wanna go?" Levi reached out and took Eren's hand in his own. Eren couldn't stop the blush that crept onto his face. Eren looked around quickly and saw that they'd reached the NASA nugget stall. Eren began leading, making sure that his grip was tight enough to lead but not too tight that Levi might feel like he had to hold it. Levi seemed fine with it, and as far as Eren was concerned, didn't make any move to remove his hand.

For the next forty five minutes, Eren and Levi walked hand in hand around the space. At points they were joined by Connie, Armin, Hanji and Erwin, but eventually they would disperse into doing their own things. Eren and Levi never parted from each other, their hands bonding them together. Eren's bush eventually did fade, and he relaxed. They were holding hands, and he was goddamn happy about it. People would often glance multiple times at the gesture, and a few would occasionally whisper about it to their friends. This only elated Eren's mood, as he knew their rumour would spread. The pair even took a few photos, three of them including Carl sitting on Eren's shoulder.

Slowly but eventually, the buzz began to die down as their money became depleted and their spirits grew tired. People had sold out, and were taking down their stalls. Eren suggested that he and Levi return to their own stalls and help pack up, to which Levi replied he wasn't scheduled for cleanup. Eren couldn't complain, and so brought Levi over to his stall. By the time they got there though, there was nothing left for Eren to do. He and Levi stood and watched as the stall was slowly disassembled.

"Well, that was fun wasn't it." Eren smiled down at Levi.

"Yep, it sure was." Levi squeezed Eren's hand. Eren looked up at the sky, a smile taking over his face. He felt even higher than cloud nine, perhaps even as far at the moon. He blamed the Outer Space Shakes for that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think my favourite typo of the chapter was where I wrote "When's your shit?" instead of "When's your shift?"  
> Gave me a hearty chuckle.


	37. Three Breaths

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren becomes a part of girls night, and takes away some lesbian wisdom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The more I get into this fic, the more I realise it's not going the way I thought it was gonna go when I started it/planned it and I don't know how I feel about it. Like I'm happy with it's just a bit odd.
> 
> I also got Spotify the other day so I made a playlist for this fic and having select songs has increased productivity by 70%
> 
> The gays getting moving again fellas, hope you enjoy this chapter!

Eren selected the final photo for his post, then added the caption  _'Hot day ;)'._ He posted with a smile, glancing over the photos one last time. The first was of a tree with bright red flowers, the second and third were selfies of him and Levi, while the fourth was a picture of Levi smiling faintly into the camera. The last one made Eren's heart take a dip into his stomach.

A pinprick in his scalp brought him out of his Levi-drunken daze.

"Ow." He murmured, instinctively reaching up to ease the pain away. Christa smacked his hand away lightly.

"Sorry, I underestimated how much hair you had."

"What do you mean underestimate? You stabbed my skull!"

"You're the one who agreed to this," Ymir said from across the room, the smirk very much prominent in her voice. "Go get 'em babe, teach him a lesson."

"I didn't do it on purpose," Christa muttered, her hands moving extra carefully.

"Well technically he agreed to our girls night, not this." Mikasa frowned as she looked for a lost strand of Ymir's hair.

"Nonsense," Sasha waved her hand, "Hair play counts as a part of our girls night, everyone knows that."

"Please never say hair play, ever again."

Eren had been laying on his bed, listening downstairs and down the hall as Mikasa and the squad did whatever it was they were doing. He was bored- his plans to hang out with Levi being cancelled when Levi informed Eren that he'd woken up "feeling like death itself." Not wanting to push his friend, Eren had wished him a quick recovery and let their plans fade away. Then, out of sheer curiosity and boredom, the brunette went downstairs to get cereal and to also see what his sister and friends were up to. Before he knew it, he was sitting in a circle with them debating who the scariest member of The Female Titans was.

"...Look, all I'm saying is that you've been acting a little more showy-offy when she's around." Ymir's suggestive voice reached Eren's attention.

"I am not," Mikasa growled, and a small yelp of pain from Ymir followed. It didn't stop her from letting out a laugh.

"Well, I think you are. Christa even noted that some gay aura was hanging about when we were in P.E the other day.

"Don't bring me into this!" Christa defended, clearly fearing Mikasa's wrath.

"What are you guys even talking about?" Sasha frowned, not pausing in the scrolling of her feed.

"You know, how Mikasa's totally gay for Annie."

"I am not. Your own gay is just making you biased."

"Did you guys know that lesbians can smell each other?" Eren piped up, smiling at Ymir's laugh.

"How do you even know that?"

"Dunno, read it somewhere I think." Eren shrugged.

"Maybe that's how you found me," Ymir said to Christa who blushed in return.

"How did you guys get together anyway?" Eren asked offhandedly. He'd wondered about the story occasionally, especially interested in the fact that they were out. He wasn't sure if it was appropriate to ask, but having hung out with them for the past hour made him feel a lot more comfortable about asking it. Christa sat up straighter, clearly excited to recount it all.

"Well, growing up I always found girls pretty. Not just normal pretty, but 'oh, wow, she's really pretty' and of course I didn't really know at the time that's what pretty I thought it was. I also liked boys, and I didn't really know anything about LGBT+ or anything, so I just sort of didn't question it for a long time. Then high school came around and being in an all girls school, I was surrounded by girls. I was questioning for a while, and then in year ten I met Ymir in art class. I think at that point I had realized that I maybe was into girls but I wasn't sure. Obviously, I found her very attractive and I didn't know what was happening to my heart when she was near."

"Then she found out I was lesbian, and into the fields we ran and made out for two hours." Ymir cut in.

"You wish." Christa snorted. "I did find out Ymir was lesbian, and when I did I discovered that I maybe wouldn't mind dating her. As time went on I just sort of got a proper crush on her. She noticed right away, and started flirting with me because apparently," Christa threw a look over her shoulder at her girlfriend, "She'd had a slight crush on me for a while before I got mine. Then one day she just sort of told me about it. I freaked out because I didn't know what I was, and I told her that I was questioning. Then we ended up testing it out and-"

"But honey, you skipped over the best part!" Ymir said dramatically. Sasha laughed.

"What do you mean?"

"Ymir." Christa whined. Ymir only smiled and continued.

"I said that it was fine and I just thought she needed to know. Meanwhile I was in minor heartbreak mode, and then it was like she exploded and started going on about how she wouldn't be opposed to testing it out if I wanted to. It was a full minute before she finally calmed down and stopped talking, she was absolutely mortified by the end of it!" Even Mikasa was smiling at that point. Christa rushed to continue the story.

"We got together, but I broke it off after two months because I was scared that if I wasn't really gay, I would ruin our friendship. That lasted about two months."

"Damn," Eren deflated. "How did you feel about it Ymir?" The girl didn't say anything.

"She wouldn't shut up about it." Sasha picked up, playfully punching her friend on the shoulder. "She would whine when anything came up that reminded her of Christa, and even at one point she thought she'd ruined girls for Christa. This was about a month and a half into their break off, anything prior to that was just as if they'd never been together, as if it didn't affect her at all."

"I really regretted it, and realized that unless I gave it my all, I'd never know. I would rather give my all to someone who I can trust and who I care about than wait on it and figure it out on my own. I also realized in that time that I didn't care about the gender or sex, I just wanted to be with an amazing person. And here we are." Christa concluded.

"Babe, you missed out the part when I almost got with someone else and you were jealous." Ymir snorted. Christa blushed and mumbled something incoherently, which earned her a kiss.

"Alright, you're done." Mikasa announced, her hands dropping from Ymir's hair.

"Thanks chief. So, have you been smelling Annie lately?"

"Shut up." Mikasa deadpanned.

"I'm done as well." Christa said, smiling at her handiwork.

"Cool, when do I get to see it?"

"Once everyone's hair is done. You're the only one who hasn't done anyone's hair, so you're doing Sasha's."

"Oooh yes!" Sasha squealed, rushing over to Eren. He chuckled, moving to make room.

"So, what are you gonna give me Mr Jaeger?"

"Um, I'm not sure. What do you want?"

"Surprise me."

"Alright, if you say so." Eren smiled, looking at the hair ties scattered in front of him. A few minutes passed in silence.

"Nice pictures of you and Levi." Sasha commented, back to scrolling through her feed.

"Oh, thanks." He hadn't intended for her to see them so quickly, had hoped that he'd at least be out of the room by that point.

"Oh yeah, you two are so cute together." Christa mused, folding herself into Ymir's arms.

"Oh we're not like- together." Pink dusted Eren's cheeks. Though he hated to think about and admit it, he did like the look of him with Levi. Even though their photos were meant to put up a visage that they were dating, he did think they looked like a real couple. He wished they were.

"No, clearly not." Mikasa rolled her eyes. She'd been the one who dropped subtle questions about the whole rumour the most. She heard a lot of second hand things seeing as she wasn't able to witness anything the pair did at school, but she did see the social media and interactions when Levi was over. Sometimes Eren wanted to tell his sister the truth, but then he thought it would take the fun out of it as well.

"Hey, can gays smell each other too? Maybe we can find a confirmed gay to find out what's going on."

"Leave him alone you two," Christa said, "If he says he says he's not dating Levi, then he's not dating Levi." Ymir shut up on command, but Mikasa still didn't seem settled on the subject.

No one else said anything, and for once the silence remained. That and with doing Sasha's hair, Eren found it the prefect time for thinking about Levi.

Eren understood parts of Christa's story first hand. Eren has also questioned about his sexuality, though his was a bit more clearer. He'd never really felt anything towards girls, whereas he'd found guys attractive and Levi even more so. His feelings were also a certain crush- so there was nothing really holding him back from being with Levi aside from the fact that Levi may not share the same feelings or intentions. He also knew that he wanted to be with Levi, without question. If he had the chance, he would probably take it. Though he felt that way, he also understood Christa's fear of ruining her friendship and so breaking things off with Ymir. Eren figured however that he and Levi acted so much time acting like a couple that they may as well be a real one.

But that was the problem,  _they weren't going anywhere._ For months they'd been beyond a normal level of friendship, and Eren's wanting to be with Levi had only elevated. By holding back, but not saying anything, they were stuck in a position where everything was strictly for the rumours- but what if it wasn't?

Eren looked over at Ymir and Christa, off in their own world as they looked fondly at each other. He wanted that with Levi, of that he had no doubt. He also had no doubt that if he didn't say anything, he'd never get there.

So Eren, careful not to poke Sasha's head as had Christa had his, decided that he would be a bit more forward in his endeavor with Levi.


	38. Two Breaths

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren's trying his best to forward the clarity in his and Levi's relationship, but it's just not working out for Eren.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so happy because like my laptop screen is kinda busted so it's super dim in the lower right corner and the rest of the screen's a bit dim, but while writing this it's started to switch between broken and not broken and hm I am so happy.
> 
> Sorry this took Y O N K S to get out, you can blame my boo for that. It's a bit difficult to write gay when your partner's sitting there looking like a cute cuddly snack and you'd rather just be gay with them (shout out to u boo if you're reading this <3 ). Then I went to someone's place for a couple nights so ye, sorry about that.
> 
> This chapter was kind of torturous to get through Idk why it just wasn't happening but yeah. I have mixed feelings about it. If it's a bit shit, I promise the next two chapters will make up for it ;)
> 
> Hope you enjoy the chapter!

Eren's vow proved harder to follow through on than expected.

He pinched his arm for the fifth time, looking over at Levi.  _Come on, just fucking do it!_ Unfortunately, the whole putting yourself down thing wasn't working, and he still hadn't managed to work up the courage to actually make a move. He thought that he'd have the confidence he needed once Levi started making contact with Eren, as it broke the ice and it didn't feel out of the ordinary.

Levi sat at the end of the bed however, legs crossed and attention fully fixated on his phone as it had been for the entirety of the time Eren had been over. He'd kept his hands strictly to himself. It was one of those days that Levi appeared to want nothing to do with Eren. The brunette puffed through his nose, looking up at the ceiling.  _Come on, or you'll never get anywhere._

Eren scooted down the bed, one shuffle at a time, right up until his knee was pressed lightly against Levi's. Said male looked at their knees, up at Eren, then raised an eyebrow as if to say 'okaaaaaayy what are you doing?'

Suddenly Eren regretted every life decision he'd ever made, he regretted misbehaving during maths in which had caused the meeting of Levi, he regretted littering that one time out of spite in year two, he regretted riding his first bike, and most of all he regretted being born. He resisted the urge to fan his face from regret overload.

"Um, I, I wanted to show you something- something on my phone," Eren stammered, not quite meeting Levi's eyes.

"You left your phone on the pillow." Levi titled his head, eyebrows accompanied by a small smile. Eren began to regret the birth of his mother then.

The door opened, and Levi's mum popped her head in with a smile identical to Levi's. 

"Hey, sorry to disturb you two."

"It's okay. What's up?" Levi turned away from Eren to face his mother, and Eren released the breath he'd been holding

"Well I was going to go with Isabel to get Maria a birthday present but I've been called into work. Could you take her? I hate to ask you when you're only on your restricted and you have Eren over, but-"

"Mum, it's fine. I've got it." Levi's mum relaxed.

"Alright. Thank you so much. I'll see you later, I love you."

"Love you too."

"Bye Eren!"

"Bye!" She popped back out, and soon enough the garage door could be heard opening and closing as she left. Isabel trotted in just as Levi was shrugging on a jacket.

"I call shotgun." She announced.

"Doesn't the car have to be in sight?" Eren was going to get nowhere if he couldn't actually  _get_  anywhere near Levi the entire time.

"Yeah but Levi loves me so he's just going to skip over that rule. Right big bro?" Levi rolled his eyes.

"Sure." Eren pouted, but didn't say anything. He still had the rest of the day with Levi, and with Levi driving and Isabel in the back seat there wasn't much he could have done anyway.

"Did mum give you some money or am I paying?"

"Actually, I'm paying for this. I've been saving up." Isabel said proudly, slipping out the door. Levi snorted, and followed his sister out of the room. Eren took a deep breath, composing himself. He then put on a smile, and followed the Ackerman's.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 "Right, so where to?" Levi chucked on the indicator, sparing a moment to look at Isabel.

"Um, I'm not sure."

"Well I don't know about you, but I'm hungry as hell." Levi made the turn, pausing to check for pedestrians.

"Let's eat first then. I don't mind where, what about you guys?" Isabel's face lit up at the prospect of food.

"Hmm, I'm not sure. What do I want Eren?" Levi flicked his eyes in the review mirror to pierce Eren down with his gaze.  _Well, I heard that my ass is on the table, how does that sound?_

"Heck if I know," Eren smiled. "You eat some weird as shit."

"Cheese toasties and mint slices do not count as weird shit" Levi rolled his eyes, refocusing them on the road.

They ended up stopping at a small fast food place close to where their first stop was. Eren looked around, noting that he'd never been there before. The service area was small in size, however it stretched far back to make plenty of room for the kitchen. The uniforms of the employees were green, and none of them seemed particularly miserable to be working in fast food. The seats were green to match the uniforms, while the walls were white. There were booths, and just like the kitchen stretched far back into the restaurant. Eren had his eyes on a booth that was at the very back of the restaurant.

"Alright, Izzy what do you want?" Levi and his sister began a discussion of what she wanted while Eren decided what he himself was going to get. He was tossing it up between the Wall Breaker and the Titan Teeth Tearer when Levi turned on him suddenly.

"Alright Eren, what do you want?" Eren panicked and blurted out the first one to come to mind.

"The Wall Breaker." Levi nodded his head and began walking up to the counter. Eren took a frantic step forward, positive that he looked like a weirdo. Levi looked back, eyebrow raised. It was something Eren was sure he'd see a lot of that day.

"Yeah?" Eren blushed at being so caught off guard, even though  _he_ had been the one coming out of nowhere.

"Oh um, I was thinking I could pay. For all of us." Nothing screamed romantic gesture more than paying for the other's food, right?

Apparently not, because Levi smiled at Eren as if he'd just offered to make the food himself.

"Don't be an idiot." Eren didn't bother trying to stop Levi again, and instead stood closer to Isabel.

"What are you getting?" He asked, willing the red away and for Isabel to not ask questions about his face that was sure to melt off at any second.

"The Hope. You?"

"The Wall Breaker."

"Ooh I had that once, it was really good. Hey, do you think that Levi would let me-" 

"Alright you two, pick a place to sit." Levi cut off his sister unintentionally. He handed over her cup, and looked at Eren. "I'll fill ours up while I'm waiting for the food and then I'll bring them over." Eren nodded, trusting that Levi knew what drink he wanted. Isabel bounded forward to the back booth. Eren joined her, looking back to see Levi lean against a wall as he waited for the person at the drinks station to finish. He looked so casual, so carefree and so bored all at the same time. Eren smiled to himself. He turned back to Isabel, eyes landing on the empty cup in front of her.

"Aren't you going to go fill that up?" Eren tilted his head.  _And why didn't Levi offer to do it for you?_

"I will, I just wanna wait until Levi gets back. And there are lots of people doing it at the moment." Isabel started playing with her straw, zoning out of the conversation. Eren nodded his head thoughtfully, and started to play around on his phone. He did everything he could to distract himself from looking over at a certain someone, and when he was just about to give up on it a small object trapped between the seat caught the light. Eren leaned down, and smiled at his find. He picked it up, continuing to wipe it on his jeans. It was a ten cent coin, slightly shiny but not enough so to be considered special.  _Well, you know what they say. Find a ten cent coin and you've just found some luck along with it._ Eren slipped the coin into his pocket, and looked up just in time to see Levi heading over. Eren was about to move over for him, until it dawned on him that Levi might choose to sit with his sister instead. Levi arrived at the table with a singular tray, setting it down gently. Eren shuffled over as inconspicuously as he could, not wanting to make it seem like Levi had to sit next to him, but making the seat room spacious enough that Levi didn't feel rejected from it. 

"I'm gonna go fill up my cup," Isabel said, scooting out of the booth to fill it up. Eren's lungs deflated as the entire booth opposite was now free for Levi, but they were soon refilled when Levi dropped down like a stone in the seat next to Eren. His head started racing, heart skipping beats occasionally. This was his chance to make a move, and perhaps with the luck of the ten cents, though it was a stupid thing...

Eren took a deep breath, doing his best to draw up the courage to grab Levi's hand.

Except, it just wasn't working.

He continued to take deep breaths, but not too deep so that Levi would notice and think that he was having an asthma attack. He rubbed his hands together slowly to try and ground himself, looking straight ahead to try and refocus his mind. It was just Levi, dumb Levi who ate dumb foods and skipped lunchtimes and intervals with him. Levi who had a normal, kinda adorable younger sister, Levi who was just a great mate and always managed to make his day better.

Also, Levi who had the world's hottest undercut, the world's palest skin. Levi with his piercing eyes and his venomous laugh, Levi with his angelic fingers and sturdy hands, Levi who would touch him and play with his hair and laugh with him and send him to heaven and back, who would press his lips to his skin and flick his tongue over after, Levi who would-

_Stop it, you're not helping yourself._ Eren took another deep breath. It was just Levi, and he was just going to hold his hand. It was fine, it was chill. They always held hands. Eren sucked in a breath, and as he exhaled, moved his hand out of his lap to reach out for-

"Alright, let's get eating!" Isabel popped out of nowhere, and Eren mentally swore. He'd spent so long freaking out about it, that Isabel had managed to return before he actually did it.

"Good, I'm starving." Levi carried on, as if the brunette next to him hadn't just had a near panic attack over holding his hand. Which, for the record, he had. Eren unwrapped his burger, saying to himself that he'd get to hold Levi's hand next time he tried.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eren picked out a random notebook, not really paying attention to the design on the front. He fiddled with the cheap metal lock, eyes cast to the side where Levi had his hands wrapped around a pencil case.

"I told you she didn't like binder things on the side, Eren," Isabel noted, taking it upon herself to put Eren's chosen book away. Eren snapped back into reality, smiling sheepishly. It felt strange that he was only able to focus on her brother rather than the task at hand, but he couldn't help it. Just once he decided, he'd like to make contact with Levi. He'd almost talked himself out of it, telling himself to just leave it and see what would happen with time. But If he didn't do anything, then who knew how his and Levi's relationship was going to progress? So he planned and he plotted, seeing every moment as one of opportunity.

"Does she mind fluff?" Levi called out, holding up a pink notebook with fluff and feathers covering every inch of the surface. Eren snorted. Levi raised a brow at the brunette.

"What?"

"Nothing it's just..."

"Impractical, and not to mention a complete eyesore." Isabel deadpanned, causing both males to laugh.

"Alright alright, how about this one?" Levi held up another, blue and orange in a clownfish pattern with glitter brushed on the top. Isabel went over to her brother, and looked at the notebook up close.

"She'll love it." The girl breathed, smiling up at her brother. "Thank you."

"All goods. Now, go pay for it." Isabel went off without another word. Levi smiled, and Eren melted a bit inside. He noticed that this was a perfect time to hold Levi's hand. So, Eren went over, and slipped his hand in Levi's. His breathing and heart rate was fairly even, and he was proud of it. He glanced at Levi ever so slightly, but the male's face hadn't changed. He was still smiling off at Isabel. Feeling suddenly awkward, and suddenly not only regretting the birth of himself and his mother, but his father as well, Eren said nothing. He too watched Isabel quickly buy the notebook, and walked over to Eren and Levi. She looked at their joined hands for a moment, but didn't say anything or show any signs of confusion or discomfort.  _Just like Hanji and Erwin._

"Alright, next place," Isabel said, leading the way. Levi began to follow his sister, and having still not acknowledged Eren's gesture, the brunette dropped his hand. Levi disregarded that movement, too. Eren cursed at himself, and continued to follow behind Levi. He pulled out the ten cent coin from his pocket, glaring at it.

_So much for being lucky._

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Seeing as the whole hand holding thing wasn't working out for him, Eren decided to go with something a bit more extreme. The only thing was, he wasn't sure when the appropriate time to execute it was.

Hugs weren't something you just randomly threw on someone.

They were at their last stop trying to find the last present for Isabel's friend. They'd obtained the notebook along with a pencil case and a few pens, but Isabel still felt like it wasn't enough. Eren scanned his eyes along another shelf, looking for everything and anything that could be what Isabel was looking for. The annoying thing was, she wasn't sure what it was either.

"What do you guys think of this?" Eren turned in Isabel's direction, eyes landing on the little rainbow eraser in her hand.

"That's cute." Eren nodded with a smile.

"How much is it?" Levi asked, going over to have a closer look. Isabel turned over the eraser, and her face turned to one of disgust.

"Six bucks! Nope, not doing that." She hastily put it down, and both Eren and Levi chuckled. She wasn't even that far into high school, yet already living the poor high schooler life. She continued her search, Eren and Levi doing the same.

After some time, Eren began to make his way over to Levi. He wasn't going to be able to hug Levi if he wasn't even close enough to do so.

Eren finally reached the shelf that Levi was browsing. Not wanting to look strange, Eren continued to look in a section that Levi hadn't searched through yet. He saw a small alpaca wolf looking figure, and was just about to reach out and grab it when Levi appeared out of nowhere and blocked his reach. Eren frowned at first, then realized it was the perfect opportunity to go behind Levi and try a hand around the waist thing while reaching out to grab the figure.

So Eren took a few steps towards it, and he lifted an arm while he moved around the back of Levi. His brain had however, he discovered, decided to have a malfunction as his limbs swapped directions of intentions. His arm snaked around the back of Levi, while his legs took him in the space between Levi and the shelf. Needless to say, there wasn't much space in that between at all. Eren panicked, and in his panic brought his hand forward.

To pat Levi in the back, while standing side on to Levi's front.

Neither of the boys said anything, and it wasn't until Eren slowly turned his head to face Levi did either of them acknowledge the strangeness of the situation. Levi's eyes were narrowed, and Eren could do nothing but stare in shock and horror as red flooded his face.

"Eren, what are you doing?"

"I was..." Eren snapped his head to the alpaca-wolf, grabbed it, and when he faced Levi again held the figure in front of his face. "Grabbing this. I thought it was cute. And I didn't see you there, and I, I thought that maybe you- you hadn't seen me either so I pat you on the back as a warning but, um. Yeah." Eren blushed harder at the shit pile of words that had just poured out of his mouth.  _Hadn't seen him? What the fuck is wrong with me?_

Levi nodded slowly though Eren knew he didn't understand at all, and moved on with an odd smile. If anything, Eren was just pushing Levi away. If Levi didn't think that Eren was a weirdo before, he certainly would now.

"Hey, that's cute." A voice said from behind, and Eren immediately, jumped back out of his awkward state with Levi. Isabel reached out to take the figure from Eren's hand.

"Yeah, I thought you'd like it. You think this could be what you're looking for?" Eren asked, hoping that the smile would cover the blush.

"Yeah, I think it is." Isabel nodded with a smile.

"Cool, let's go buy it then." Levi said. "I'm ready to go home, this has been exhausting."

"Sorry," Isabel giggled, and once again lead the way over to the check out.

The three walked over, paid for the figure, and walked out of the store. Eren felt empty and fully spent, his face still cooling down.

The day had gone terribly. He'd wanted to at least be able to successfully hold Levi's hand once, but couldn't do that. All he'd managed to achieve was looking like an idiot in front of Levi.

"Shotgun!" Isabel sang, running over to the car. Eren smiled, shaking his head. It didn't matter anyway, it felt like even if God him very self were on his side, Eren wouldn't be able to make a single move on Levi that was acknowledged. Still, he had to try one last time. Eren turned back to Levi who was only a few steps behind

"This was fun. Though I think I need glasses." Eren joked, biting his lip. Levi smirked, taking bigger steps to catch up to Eren. The brunette froze as Levi got closer, and his heart stopped completely when Levi on tippy toes whispered in his ear,

"You're an idiot." And quicker than Eren could comprehend, Levi placed a small kiss on the corner just below Eren's mouth, as if he wasn't tall enough to reach Eren's cheek. His lips were soft, a faint breeze across his skin.

Levi stalked off, not looking back, and because of this Eren took the moment to fist pump the air. A smile wider than any river covered his face, and Eren looked down at the ground to avoid the concerned stare of strangers.

He pulled the ten cent coin out of his pocket, and couldn't help but thank it. 

And so he did.


	39. One Breath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The last day of term three has arrived, and the holidays are pretty holiday-ey. :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kinda shitty chapter, but that's okay because the next one.. :::)))  
> Ya'll aren't ready.

Eren frowned down at the sheet in front of him, swinging absentmindedly on his chair leg.

_What were your benchmark results for each subject?_

_Are you achieving at a level where you can meet next years prerequisites?_

_If not, how can you make sure you reach those marks?_

_What can you do to study smarter in time for end of year externals?_

Eren didn't mind answering the questions per say, it was just the fact that he didn't  _need_ a stupid sheet to know what he should improve on. Writing it down didn't change anything. It was also hard to concentrate on filling it out when the tutor teacher was going on and on in the background.

"Don't forget to make sure you've finalized your subject choices, otherwise the dean will start coming and chasing me down asking about it. They were due last week."

"What if we don't know what we want to take?" Connie whined, not having even bothered to pick up a pen.

"Then you can always change them later."

"Ugghhh." Connie continued on with his moaning, head falling on the desk. Eren chuckled, and returned to his sheet.

Connie's problem and thoughts weren't just his own however, Eren wasn't sure about his subject choices either. How was he supposed to know what subjects to take when he didn't even know what he was going to do with his future?

Armin sat opposite Eren, freaking out because of the achieved he got on his calculus paper.

"Guys I don't know what to do, do you think there'll be holiday tutorials?" Eren rolled his eyes, along with Connie and Jean.

"Armin seriously, you'll be fine. It was just a benchmark."

"But the exams are harder than the benchmarks, and I need a merit to get into calculus next year! What if I fail? What if-"

"Then you'll be fine." Connie waved him off. "It doesn't matter, and with your personality I'm pretty sure they'd let you take it anyway."

"I still think that holiday tutorials-"

"Armin please, you're already ruining  _my_  holidays at this rate, and they haven't even started! Speaking of which-" Connie turned to shout at Thomas, "Hey, how long until our holidays officially start?"  It only took a moment for Thomas to reply.

"About seven hours!" 

Connie whooped in reply, along with a few others in the class.

"This term went by really fast and really slow at the same time." Marco muttered, putting his pen away. "Then we've only got one left."

"And then off into glorious year 13." Jean smirked, sitting as close to Marco as ever. The bell rang then, and everyone seemed to already be halfway out the door.

"For now," Eren said, also standing, "We're off to glorious first period."

"Have a great holidays boys, and see you all next term!" Eren and Co. all said their farewells to their teacher, wishing him a happy holiday and a 'did you just assume our genders?' joke. They ran down the hall, yelling all the way down A block.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eren's first four periods of the day had been mostly uneventful, having completed most internals and external preparations already. It'd been a good last day of term, and what better way to have a last day lunch than with friends playing ninja tag?

It hadn't taken them all much convincing, especially with Hanji helping.

"Alright, we all ready?" Hanji called out, and received a lot of shouts in return, causing her to grin manically. "Okay, all together then!"

"Ninja tag!" Everyone shouted together, leaping back in different directions. Eren dove as far away from anyone as he could get, going for the tactic that others would get each other out so he had more of a chance of winning.

His plan worked for a time, Jean quickly getting out along with Armin- though he was sure the blonde wasn't even trying all that hard. Connie and Marco were battling it out while Hanji was just bouncing around like a madwoman. Eren glanced to his left where Levi stood, just staring at Hanji as if she were a rare specimen he'd never seen before. Unfortunately, Erwin managed to catch the short boy unawares. Levi grumbled as he made his way to the bench. Eren returned his attention to the game, mentally slapping himself for getting distracted by Levi once again.

Neither of them had spoken about the kiss that Levi had placed so closely to Eren's lips, and the brunette didn't mind keeping it that way.

He still wanted to be more forward, but assumed that school wasn't the best time to test out how far he could push Levi into asking what it was Eren trying to accomplish. So, Eren just tried his best not to look at Levi as each time he did, it just resulted with a smack on the hand and his ass on the bench.

"Your turn Eren!" Connie called, balancing on a leg. Eren looked around his space, and jumped forward. Enough people were out that he was comfortable with getting closer to the center of their starting circle. A few more turns continued on, and Eren stood off forgotten to the side for most of them. His eyes scanned lazily across the classroom in front of him, when he noticed Levi and Armin laughing on the bench together.

Instantly, Eren's gut plummeted, a pit dropped into his stomach.

Next thing he knew, a soft and hard object hit the back of his hand. Not an object- a hand. 

Erwin's hand, as the wild eyebrow-ed boy smiled down at Eren.

"Got you," He mused, laughing when Eren pouted. Not having anything to say in defense, Eren stalked off to go sit down. He looked for anywhere that wasn't near Levi and Armin, but lucky him, the only seat available was next to Levi. Eren was about to say fuck it all and sit on the grass when Armin spotted him walking over.

"Oh Eren, there's a seat next to Levi." Armin waved his friend over, and Eren had no choice but to smile and nod.

"You look like he just kicked a puppy. I'm not going to bite." Levi huffed, adjusting his position so that he wasn't just facing Armin head on. Eren snorted at Levi's words, knowing that the latter half was, really, complete bullshit. He could think of a few times when Levi might bite.

"You lasted a good while." Armin pointed out. Eren's earlier emotional fit faded away at the reality. Armin was his best friend, just talking and laughing with his other best friend which just so happened to be his crush. There was no danger, because the danger didn't exist. He didn't even know why he thought of it as danger.

"Yeah, I know. I honestly thought that-"

"NO, YOU DIDN'T!" Hanji shouted, and when Eren looked over to see what she was shouting about, let out a laugh.

She and Connie were both frozen in odd and uncomfortable positions, Connie crouching down with a hand flat on the ground while Hanji was stretching outwards, hand brought up sharply by her side.

"YES, I DID!" Connie shouted back, though neither of them moved. Hanji turned to Erwin with puppy dog eyes.

"Erwin, honey, darling, my partner in crime-"

"Not your partner in crime-"

"You agree that Connie didn't hit my hand, right?" Erwin let out a deflated sigh.

"Hanji, I've already told you, I didn't see."

"You're  _supposed_ to-"

"Stop trying to sway him into being biased!"

"Connie, I am simply-"

"Someone shut them up." Levi growled, head in his hands. Armin let out a light smile and bounded over to defuse the situation, leaving Eren and Levi alone together on the bench. A small silence settled over them, the continuing shouts of Connie and Hanji washing over them. Eventually Eren couldn't take it anymore.

"I can't believe we've only got one more term left." He stated, twisting on the seat to face Levi.

"I know, it fucking sucks."

"Have you picked your subjects yet?"

"Yeah, I have. You?"

"Yep, but I'm not sure I'm happy with them."

"Well, I don't think anyone's ever completely happy with their choices."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I mean school is school right? And it sucks shit." Eren laughed as Levi's choice of words.

"Right, I mean I can't disagree with that."

"Mm. I think I might drop out though."

Eren's world came crashing down.

"I'm- I'm sorry... what?"

"School's shit, exams are shit, university is bullshit honestly, so what's the point in staying? The whole point of school is to just go out and get a job, but really we can just skip the whole 'education' bit and get a job. I can't think of a single person who's doing any worse than we are that dropped out. Can you?" Eren went through a list of people in his head, people in his tutor class, people who he just knew generally around school, but came up blank.

"No," He mumbled. "But still, you sure that's what you want to do? Don't you need level 3 to get into uni? Like, what if you change your mind and want to go?"

"Guess I'd just have to wait until I'm 24 then. Maybe I would have saved enough to pay off for the student loan. I don't know, I'm still thinking about it."

"Yeah no, fair enough." It wasn't that Eren didn't agree with Levi's reasoning, or that he felt ill towards dropouts- it was just the fact that he didn't want  _Levi_ to drop out. He'd miss their interval and lunchtime adventures, the little touches they shared at school, seeing his face and hearing his voice every day, the certainty that they'd keep in touch. Although, he supposed it would all have to end eventually anyway.

Not in the mood to continue on with the topic and conversation, Eren faced the game again. It was just Connie and Thomas left, though the latter was quickly obliterated. Connie took in his victory, whooping and jumping around the place.

"REMATCH!" Hanji announced, and everyone went back into a small circle. Eren and Levi were the last to join, still not saying a word to each other.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

_THREE DAYS LATER._

Eren carefully closed the door, a smile plastered on his face. It felt as if nothing, not even Jean being an ass, could wipe it away. He sauntered into the living room, grinning wider at the sight of Mikasa and his parents looking at him expectantly.

"So, how'd it go?" Mikasa asked, though her smile was already matching that of Eren's.

The brunette held up his temporary restricted drivers license.

Instantly he was surrounded by his family, with congratulations and words of love and support surrounding him. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

_FOUR DAYS LATER._

"That one, right there?"

"Yeah?"

"He's so hot."

"What?" Eren snorted. "No way. Look at his nose!"

"You're just fussy about noses. His hair is so pretty."

"Yeah, no."

"What would you know about guys being hot, you're blind. And straight. Allegedly." Sasha chucked another potato chip in her mouth, talking to herself more than anything. Eren chuckled.  _Oh Sasha, if only you knew._

"Would you two stop it?" Marco smiled, shaking his head. "We're here to find my mum's birthday gift, not discuss guys."

"Yeah,  _Sasha._ "

"Yeah,  _Eren._ " The two laughed, stopping their pity argument at the look on Marco's face. The three moved from shop to shop, never really finding anything that stuck out to them. As they walked around town, Sasha continued to point out guys behind Marco's back.

"Him, cute as fuck. So cute, I wouldn't mind associating the word fuck with him." Eren began wheezing, slapping Sasha on the arm. He looked in the direction she was pointing. He was cute, short brown curly hair, aura screaming homo energy. But he, just like every other guy Sasha had pointed out that day, could never compare to the attractiveness of Levi.

It hit Eren hard then, the longing to see Levi. The first week of the holidays had gone by quickly, and the two hadn't seen each other since the last day of school. They'd texted each other occasionally, but never for long enough that it was a decent conversation.

"I found it, I found the one." Marco hissed excitedly, leading his friends over to a small cabinet. He pointed to a ring with a large emerald in the center of it.

"It's beautiful." Sasha breathed, practically pressing her face into the glass. Eren had to agree. Marco hurriedly called out to an assistant to buy the ring.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

_ TWO DAYS LATER. _

Eren's character on the screen obliterated Armin's, sending him off the side of the cliff. He smiled triumphantly, then turned to smirk at his friend who sat there in defeat.

"Another round?" Eren asked, stretching a little more dramatically than necessary.

"Fine." Armin mumbled, selecting a new game.

"So, tell me more about what you've been up to." It'd been a good couple of days since Eren had last seen his friend.

"I don't know, I've just been having study sessions and reading and whatnot. I hung out with Levi for a bit the other day, and I saw Erwin and Hanji as well." Eren didn't say anything, afraid that some of the acid boiling in his stomach would jump out of his throat if he dared to open his mouth. After a while Armin glanced over at Eren, brows furrowed.

"Have you seen them at all?" It took Eren a moment to reply.

"No," He mumbled. "Whenever I'm busy they're free, and vice versa." He had managed to catch them on a group call, but never in person. They were both going on a combined family camping trip, so Eren wouldn't be able to see them again until school started back up.

"Oh, damn. Are you seeing Levi at all this week?"

"Yeah, Sunday."

"Sunday?" Armin put his controller down in confusion. "But that's the night before school isn't it?"

"It sure is." Eren put his controller down too, lowering himself down to lie on the ground.

"That's a bit... odd, I guess."

"That's what I was thinking. But he's busy every other day and it was the only time he was free."

"Why not wait until school then? There'd be like, a five-hour conscious time difference."  _Because I'm a 'thirsty as hoe' who just really wants to have some alone time with his crush without the stress of schools and knowing that I should be doing something else rather than chasing after a romance that I know will probably never happen._

"Mum and dad are going out so we'll be able to be loud without having to worry about bugging them."

"Right. Well, I guess that'll be fun."

"I hope so. But, in the meantime-" Eren picked up his controller, a sinister smile on his face. "I'm gonna smash you in this game."


	40. Breathless

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren finally gets to see Levi after not having a chance for the entirety of the holidays- and who knows what the night has in store for them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was a roller coaster, I spent all day on it so I hope it's to ya'lls liking. I'm really really really happy with it, and it's super long, the longest chapter so far I think :D (Though I could be/am probably wrong about that)
> 
> Speaking of long, fuck this fic is so long and like I don't know when it'll be done and???? Hope you guys don't mind XD
> 
> I hope you enjoy this chapter! <3

Eren turned his phone on, checking the time even though he'd done it a hundred times already. He frowned. Only two minutes had passed.

"Honey, have you seen my scarf anywhere?" Carla asked, looking around the couch Eren was lounging on. She gently lifted his legs, peering under.

"Mum it's not even that cold." Eren smiled, but began looking with her nonetheless.

"I know, but I'd rather just take my scarf instead of a big coat. It gets cold in the movie theatre, besides, your father made it for me- ah, there it is." She walked over to the coffee table, smiling at her find.

"When are you going?"

"We need to be there at five fifteen. What's the time now? I don't want to miss our reservation for dinner." Eren looked at his phone again. Only another three minutes had passed.

"It's four twenty-eight."

"Can you please go up and see if Mikasa's getting ready?"

"Yep." Eren dragged himself off the couch, a slight headache hitting him. His legs felt wobbly while slowly ascending the stairs, arms feeling weak as he knocked on Mikasa's door.

"Yeah?" She called, and Eren let himself into her room.

"Mum wanted me to see if you're getting ready."

"What does she think I've been doing, lying on the couch doing nothing for the past hour?" Mikasa said, giving Eren a pointed look. "That's right, I'm calling you out."

"I'm tired," Eren muttered, smiling sheepishly.

"Right. Anything else you need?"

"Nope, that was it. You look really good though, by the way." 

"Thanks." Mikasa smiled at the compliment. She didn't do her makeup often, but when she did it always turned out nice.

"You  _suuuure_ you don't wanna stay and hang out with me and Levi?"

"Yes, I'm sure." Mikasa put down her mascara bottle harshly. "I'm not really in the mood to watch my brother mess around with someone, and to have said brother not even tell me the status of the person he's messing around with."

"Mikasa-" Eren began to heat up.

"So unless you're going to tell me what you and Levi actually are, you can leave so I can finish getting ready." She waited, and when Eren didn't say anything, turned back to the mirror. Eren took it upon himself to leave, closing the door on his way out. He pinched himself, willing the red away. If only she actually knew what they were indeed, because then he'd know for himself. His mother turned to him when he reached the bottom of the stairs.

"Is she ready?"

"Almost, just finishing her make up."

"Alright, now Eren-" She walked over to him, setting her arms on his shoulders. "Are you sure it's a smart idea to have Levi over the night before school starts again? You're almost an adult so I'm not going to stop you, but I do want you to think sensibly."

"Yes mum, I'm sure it's fine." He rolled his eyes with a smile. "And he's not even staying the night, he has to leave around ten because of his restricted anyway."

"Oh, good. Well, that's around when we'll be home. She stepped away, walking to her and Grisha's bedroom. "I'd better go check on your father then." Eren stood there awkwardly for a moment, then reclaimed his place on the couch.

He checked the time again, seeing that six minutes had passed this time. He shut his eyes with his head tilted upwards.

Tonight was the night he would hopefully be a little more forward with Levi, not so forward that they'd be stuck having an awkward conversation, but enough so that Levi could maybe get the hint that Eren was interested in him. He had nothing planned- just an empty house and a shit load of snacks. They'd also agreed that Levi would bring some over, and that he'd have dinner at Eren's.

He took a deep breath, exhaling for longer than probably necessary. He began to clasp his hands, then started to pat a beat on his thighs. Around half an hour to an hour he had left to wait, and when it was over Levi would arrive and the normal mental shit show would go down. It was frustrating, how at school he could at least somewhat keep it together but when alone with him it was like his hormones couldn't switch off.

_It's just Levi._

Eren continued to breathe evenly, calming his nerves, laying still on the couch as his family ran around in the background getting ready. Eventually they were done, and wishing him farewell.

"If you make a mess, clean it up. No alcohol please, no drugs." Carla hugged Eren tightly.

"Jesus mum, what do you think I do in my spare time?"

"Yeah Carla, he's too lame for that. Aren't you son?" Grisha and Eren grinned at each other.

"Doing drugs and drinking alcohol isn't cool." She mumbled, kissing her son on the cheek. "We'll see you around ten, I love you."

"I love you. Have fun!"

"Don't you have too much fun while we're away. It's not your house just because you're the only one in it." Eren's dad gave him a hug, following after his wife. Mikasa came up to him next, smirking at what their parents had said to Eren.

"What have you been telling them that I do?" He joked, gently punching her shoulder.

"Oh you know, just the fact that you skip like every period to smoke out back with Connie. The standard stuff you do." Eren just snorted as Mikasa walked out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eren rubbed his hands together, breathing in and out as quickly as he could. He thought that, maybe, if he could do it fast enough, some of the nerves that had built up in his stomach would exit his body.

So far, it wasn't working. Surprise surprise.

He began pacing up and down the length of the couch which he'd gotten up from only moments before. Levi had texted him saying that the traffic was a bitch and he was stuck, but would be there in five minutes. Fireworks had gone off in numerous places within Eren, most noticeably in his mind and stomach. He ran up to his room, checking that it was decently clean in case they decided to go in there at any point. Then he made sure the kitchen was clean- finding it in the same impeccable state he'd left it in an hour ago. The couch he made sure was layered with pillows and at a proper angle towards the T.V, and even went as far as putting the blankets he'd snatched from the laundry closet within sight of any point in the lounge. Just when he was about to make sure nothing was out on the bathroom sink, a knock sounded on the door.

Eren panicked for a moment, looking frantically around the room. Nothing seemed out of place, nothing looked as if it might turn Levi away at a first glance. Eren didn't realize he was being over the top until he began looking under couches, just in case Mikasa had decided to store anything under them.  _Stop it. You're being stupid, Levi's been here before. Just pretend like you're back in time where you didn't have a massive crush on him, like that other time he came over for the night._ Eren walked over to the door, doing his best to calm the nerves. With every breath he took, he was sure it wasn't oxygen being inhaled, but butterflies instead.

_Yeah, but I also wanted to kiss him that night too._

He reached the door, swinging it open so quickly he feared it would hit himself in the face. His breath stopped when he saw Levi, bundled in a slim, black jacket. It outlined his figure perfectly, which didn't help Eren's cause.

"Hey." Levi grumbled. "I'm still welcome?" Eren stared for a moment before snapping out of it. He shook his head with a breath of laughter.

"Yeah yeah- no of course, come in. Hi." Eren mentally slapped himself for messing up the order of the sentence. He could have sworn Levi smirked as he stepped inside.

"You guys have moved things around since I was last here," Levi noted. Eren looked around, scared for a moment that the house had magically turned upside down in the moments his back was turned. But luckily, everything was as normal. Levi just hadn't been over in a while.

"Yep, mum kept accidentally walking into the couch so she moved it, and suddenly nothing matched the room anymore."

"Mother like son then I guess. You know, walking into things." Eren laughed, and as he did felt the nerves and panic in his bones melt away. It was Levi, he had no need to be worried and stressed. They were just hanging out, just like they normally did.

Eren threw himself over the backside of the couch. falling heavily onto it. Levi shrugged off his jacket (Eren watching as he couldn't help the show of it) and joined Eren on the couch.

"So, how have your holidays been?" Eren asked, relaxing into the arm of the chair. Levi crossed his legs.

"I don't know, pretty boring. Hanji, Erwin and I went on a trip to go see an old friend that moved a while back, but other that I haven't done anything exciting. Then again, that seems to be my fucking life. What have you done?"

"I've been hanging with Armin and shit, nothing special either. Though," A grin took over Eren's face as he prepared to reveal his grand news he'd been waiting to share with Levi. "I did get my restricted." Levi's jaw dropped before his lips turned upwards. Eren couldn't stop his eyes from flicking down at them in time.

"Eren that's fucking awesome. When was this?"

"Last Wednesday? Maybe it was Tuesday. I'm not sure."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Eren shrugged. Really, he hadn't told Levi because he'd wanted to see his reaction in person, but he wasn't about to tell Levi that.

"I dunno, just never thought of it I guess." Something flashed across Levi's face. Eren was about to ask about it when the shorter male stood abruptly.

"Well, congrats. Was it on the first try?" Levi began walking over to the kitchen. Eren got up quickly, following him.

"Uh, yeah. Somehow. I'm fucking broke as shit now though." Levi laughed, grabbing a glass out of the cupboard.

"Yep, licenses will do that to you. What's for dinner, I'm starving."

"Oh, shit. Right."

"What, did you forget people had to eat or something?" Levi snorted, filling the glass with water.

"Haha, very funny. I was thinking of just having pasta, sound good to you?"

"Yeah, sure. Do you want help making it?"

"If you want." Eren walked over to the pantry, grabbing the bag of pasta. He then went to the cupboard and grabbed the sauce, while Levi started getting out the pot and pan.

"Can you please boil the jug? It should have enough water but you might have to check." Levi silently obliged, and the familiar steaming noise filtered out any other sounds in the kitchen. The two continued to prepare the food, Eren turning on the stove top and watched it as it reached boiling point. Then he scooted to the other bench, chopping up some onions and garlic. Levi stayed by the pot, slowing stirring in the pasta and watching over it. The two boys only talked occasionally, the sound of the knife hitting the chopping board and the boiling of the pasta took too much space for them to be able to hear each other.

Eren glanced over at Levi. The garlic and onion were all chopped, just needing to be cooked. Unfortunately there wasn't enough space on the stove top to cook them at the same time as the pasta, so they needed to wait.

He should have just stayed there and waited for Levi to announce that the pasta was cooked, but when there was a perfect opportunity to make a move, Eren couldn't just pass it up.

Swallowing his nerves, Eren moved through the kitchen towards Levi. He sucked in a quick breath, and held it. He then slid his arms around Levi's waist, setting his head on the very upper part of Levi's chest, just under his neck.  _The perks of being tall._  Said boy angled his head to the side, an eyebrow raised at Eren.

"Can I help you?" His heart lurched when Levi placed his free hand over Eren's.

"I was just going to ask if the pasta was ready." He croaked out, all confidence slowly melting away.  _Goddamn it._

"It'll be done in a minute." Levi scooped up a piece of pasta with the wooden spoon, holding it to Eren's mouth. "Unless you're happy with it now." Eren tentatively took the pasta into his mouth, chewing slowly.

"Yeah no, it needs a bit longer." Levi nodded, and returned to stirring. Eren quickly pulled away, moving back to his onions and garlic with his face just as red as the pasta sauce.

The pasta was soon cooked all the way through, then the onions and garlic were cooked and added, and finally the sauce. Once it was all brought together and plated up, Eren and Levi seated themselves on the couch. Eren reached the couch first, and leant his back against one of the ends. He twisted himself slightly to face the T.V, doing his best to hint to Levi that he could cuddle into him if he wanted. Eren sure as hell wanted him to. Levi either didn't notice or didn't want to take it, as he mimicked Eren's exact position but on the opposite side of the couch. Eren's heart sank, and he shoved a piece of pasta in his mouth as a means of distracting himself. Sick of the silence, Eren flicked on the T.V.

"What're we watching?" Levi asked, tucking his feet right up. Eren smiled, finding it adorable.

"Uh, whatever's on I guess. I haven't watched T.V in ages."

"Fair enough." Levi ate a mouthful before speaking again. "So, what's the plan for tonight? I don't have any ideas so I hope you do." Eren just shrugged his shoulders.

"No, I'm pretty much in the same position as you. I mean we can watch a movie or two, stick with whatever's just on T.V, we have some old board games- you like them right? Umm... yeah, I don't know. We can just do whatever."

"Sounds good." Levi grew silent after that, looking pretty out of it. Eren tried multiple times to start a conversation, but it was as if Levi were on another planet. Half an hour passed like that, Eren finishing his pasta sooner than Levi. He tried his best to seem interested in the Sunday night movie, but he was finding it really fucking boring. He couldn't care less about just another typical straight romance. There were plenty of them out there, this one wasn't anything special. After being zoned out for a while, Eren snapped his head to a sudden loud clang of ceramic hitting glass. Faster than he could register, Levi had placed his empty bowl on the coffee table and dropped himself right next to Eren. The brunette's heart rate picked up at their sudden closeness.

"Let's play a question game," Levi said, typing into the search bar of his phone.

"What do you mean?" Eren adjusted slightly, hoping that it would give more room for Levi to eventually move closer.

"You know, where we just search up dumb questions and answer them. I'm just really fucking sick of this movie."

"I can turn it off?"

"Nah, I like the music in it." Eren hadn't even given the music a second thought.

"Okay then. Well, what questions have you got?" Levi paused for a moment, scrolling through various pages.

"Alright, I found some really shit ones. Here we go- what kind of childhood did you have?" Eren laughed.

"Uh- a normal one? I don't know. Mum stayed at home while dad went to work, Mikasa was a good older sister, I was the shitty younger brother. Creative? Energetic? What kind of question is that?" Levi snorted at Eren's response. "What about you, what was yours like?" Levi fiddled with his phone before looking at Eren again.

"Shitty dad left when I was younger, went through the adoption process with mum. She didn't want me to be lonely and feel like I was unlovable or some shit, and then wanted me to experience having another female in my life apart from her which is why she adopted both Farlan and Isabel. I'd call it a quiet closed off childhood." Eren nodded. It sucked that Levi'd been dealt such a shit set of cards in life, but at least he was still living it the way he wanted to.

"Damn. Looks like we had completely different childhoods then." Eren looked at Levi, suddenly becoming completely entranced with his jawline and eyes. It dawned on him how close they were. Possessed with a strange new sense of confidence, Eren leaned forward and intertwined his fingers with Levi's. "Your mum didn't need to worry though- I think you're pretty lovable." Levi laughed, the smile lingering on his face. He squeezed Eren's hand.

"Do you just?" Levi let his head rest against the back on the couch.

"Mhm." Eren bit his lip in an attempt to stop a lovesick smile from infecting his face. Levi refocused his attention on his phone, looking for more questions. But Eren didn't care about the game anymore- all he wanted was to look at and touch Levi.

"What do you find attractive in women?" Eren automatically laughed when he heard the question, and without thinking about it, let himself fall into Levi's lap. He went face first into the couch when he realized what had just happened. 

"What's wrong?" Levi said, showing no sign of discomfort. When Eren lifted himself, he found his cheeks flushed. He looked at Levi for a moment, saying nothing.

It occurred to him then that, he'd never confided in Levi about his sexuality endeavour. It wasn't something he was embarrassed about or didn't trust Levi with- Levi was his bloody gay realization after all. So, Eren didn't feel particularly uncomfortable when he next spoke.

"It's just that, I think I might be gay." Levi's eyes widened slowly, in shock or surprise Eren couldn't tell.

"Oh- that's cool. Right." Eren laughed at the fact he appeared to have caught Levi off guard.

"What about you? You're bi right?" Levi shrugged.

"I've never really thought about it since I'm hardly around girls." Eren wanted to ask what Levi found attractive in a  _guy_ , but couldn't muster up the courage to do so. He might not like the answer, either.

But then again, even if Levi didn't have any true feelings for Eren, surely he found him somewhat attractive? You didn't go out of your way to touch someone romantically or sexually if you didn't find them attractive, right?

"Next question?" Eren suggested. He decided not to move considering Levi seemed fine with their current situation, and instead placed his head on Levi's chest. Instantly Levi began threading his free hand in Eren's hair, causing the brunette to smile and his chest to swell.

"If you could only eat one food for the rest of your lie, what would it be?"

"Pizza, for sure."

"What, why? Of all the food you could have, you choose pizza? That is so..." Eren scrunched up his face, looking for the word. "Eren of you." Said boy laughed, cuddling closer to Levi.

"And what would you suggest?"

"Cheese toasties. Can't beat 'em."

"WHAT? YES YOU CAN!" Eren pulled away from Levi, feeling beyond betrayed. He regretted it for a moment, then realized it was worth the sacrifice. What kind of man would choose  _that_ if he could only eat one thing?

"Nope, nothing like a good simple cheese toastie."

"Seriously Levi, you're messing with me right?"

"Fuck off," Levi scoffed.

"No like- please tell me you're joking." When Levi didn't do so, Eren could only stare in shock. "You shame me for choosing pizza, but give me that for an answer! At least with pizza you can choose different toppings, or if you could only choose one pizza then at least you'd be able to choose a flavoursome one!"

"But you can get sick of so many flavours, you can't get sick of plain ones."

"Okay, there is something seriously wrong with your taste buds." Eren laughed, leaning against the edge of the couch again. Levi laughed gently, readjusting himself in the chair.

"I don't know, I'll have to taste some other things to confirm that." A shudder went though Eren, and though Levi probably hadn't meant it in  _that_ way... chills settled along his spine.

"That's enough of those questions, that last one has officially forever ruined that game for me." Eren picked up the remote, changing the channel. He knew it was pointless- there was never anything good on a Sunday night.

"Great, that means we can crack into the snacks. I've been waiting." Eren rolled his eyes at Levi. Of course that's what he'd been looking forward to the most.

"I'm still traumatized from the last time you bought snacks over for a movie night thing." The image was still fresh in his mind despite how long ago it was.

"You should be grateful, it was a bitch to get that many packets from my car to your couch in that single jacket."

"You could have been normal and brought them in a bag."

"That just seems unnecessary." Eren chuckled, settling on a slightly newer T.V series. Levi began opening bags of chips and lollies, and the two even unwrapped a few small chocolates. They talked more in depth about their holidays, their family members and just about other general topics. Eren slowly grew more accustomed to Levi's touch, his body now no longer feeling the need to blush every time their skin touched. He became bolder, to the point where he was able to cuddle into Levi once more. Eren had his head in the crook of Levi's neck, about to make a joke when Levi started shuffling, and a faint rustling sound followed. Worrying that his leg was losing feeling or he was on some sort of wrapping, Eren made to get up. Levi put a steady hand on Eren's waist however, mumbling for him to stay. Eren relaxed again, happy with the fact that he didn't have to move. Another minute passed with the two entranced in a comfortable silence, when Levi suddenly pulled back to look down at Eren.

"Hey, do you want a kiss?"

Eren could only stare at Levi, eyes wide and body rigid.  _What?_ Eren searched Levi's face, but couldn't find any indication of what brought on the question. It wasn't mocking, it wasn't teasing, but he couldn't make out what it was. One by one each of his systems shut down, his arms stiffening as if they needed to be oiled and Levi had just evaporated it all somehow. His face was stuck in a permanent state of confusion, and suddenly Levi felt one hundred times closer. Was he being serious, or was he just joking? Was it a reference to what they were watching but Eren had missed it? Was it an old inside joke they had? If Levi was being serious and Eren said yes, then Levi would know about Eren's crush. But if he told Levi that yes, he would like a kiss, and it turned out that Levi was only joking then he didn't know what he'd do. Could he play it off as a joke, perhaps?

Eren didn't trust himself to speak, or to do anything for that matter. He could only stare, and stare, and stare, and stare. He was sure he'd never looked more stupid in his life. But then, Levi started leaning in. His head tilted, and when he got halfway to Eren's face his eyes fluttered shut. It shocked through Eren the fact that this wasn't a new sight, he'd seen it a few times. But then Levi had always fallen through, had always pulled away at the last second with a smirk that did things to Eren he didn't even know could be done to him. 

Eren wanted it. He wanted it so bad. He wanted to feel Levi's lips on his own, wanted to see if kissing someone was as magical as they said it was. He'd never kissed anyone before. He wanted to know what they tasted of, if Levi wore lip balm or if his lips were just naturally shiny in particular lights. He wanted to know what it was like to stop time, to go to a place far from where he was then.

So Eren too closed his eyes, and began slowly inching in. He took a deep breath.

He wasn't sure whether Levi would pull away, and if he did Eren was sure he'd die right on the spot due to an overload of embarrassment. But if Levi wasn't joking, if Levi somehow miraculously wanted to finally let Eren know why he'd been acting so hands on when they were alone...

He then took a second deep breath. His heart hammered as if it were building a house made from the nerves and tinglings he's accumulated, his hands becoming slightly clammy as he moved closer towards Levi. Eren then took in a third deep breath, preparing for what would be his first kiss, his kiss with Levi...

When instead he felt a cold, rough metallic substance get shoved in between his lips.

He jerked back and out of Levi's embrace, eyes snapping open. Levi began wheezing in front of him, doubling over in laughter. Eren frowned, a blush creeping over his face as it settled over him that he and Levi had almost kissed. It was then that Eren realized there was still something in his mouth.

He loosened his lips, letting the object drop into his hands. He turned it over, brows furrowed in confusion. Then he saw what it was.

A small Hershey's kisses chocolate sat in his hands, nicely wrapped in golden wrapping. He looked up to see Levi's head flung over the back of the couch, still laughing like there was no tomorrow. A smile broke out on Eren's face before he too was in a complete wreck.

He wanted to be mad, at himself or Levi he didn't care, but the sheer ridiculousness that had just occurred... he was overcome with a wild sense of amusement instead. For a moment he had a moment of embarrassment, but then released Levi may not have even seen him leaning in.  His eyes were closed. It also clicked that the rustling earlier must have been Levi getting the Kiss. He'd been planning it. Eren shook his head, gasping for air.

"Wow, if you're gonna give kisses that are like that, I'd love to make out with you." Eren giggled, causing Levi to shake even more violently.

"Hang- hang on I have an- an idea." Levi coughed, beckoning for Eren to come closer. He did so, and Levi reached over to grab Eren's phone from the table. He gestured for Eren to unlock it, and when Eren had done so Levi opened up the camera. He got Eren to place a kiss in his mouth, Levi doing the same before making room for Eren to rest his head on Levi's shoulder. Then Levi help up the box so it was in the shot, and took the photo. He then captioned  _Scoring lots of kisses tonight ;)_  before checking with Eren it was okay to post. Eren nodded, still laughing. Levi put the phone down after, smiling at his handiwork.

"Dear God Levi." Eren put a hand over his face, finally managing to calm down a bit.

"Am I a good kisser?" Levi asked, leaning in suggestively. Eren could only laugh, pushing away his friend via chest.  _If only I knew._

"Well, I'm certainly not opposed to more." Eren laughed, accepting the one Levi handed him after. With a smile on both of the boy's faces, they leaned comfortably against each other.

The night continued, eating snacks and making random strings of conversation. Each time they wanted a Hershey's, they would joke by asking "Can I have a kiss?" and would put the chocolate in each other's mouths. Eren was having far too many fantasies about Levi's lips than was necessary. They were beginning to run out of things to say when Levi sat up suddenly, collected a bunch of packets around him.

"What are you doing?" Eren asked, curiosity gnawing at him. Levi didn't say anything until he had one of every snack within his grasp.

"How about we have a little food challenge?" He grinned.

"What do you mean?" Eren perked up.

"What if we put together some snacks with others and see what they taste like?"

"That's a terrible idea!" Eren laughed, but nodded his head anyway. "And it's perfect." Levi placed each bag in the space between him and Eren, then commanded that they both close their eyes.

"Now we both pick a random one and stick them together. Ready?"

"Yep." The two fumbled around with their eyes shut, and each picked out a packet. When they opened their eyes, they groaned in distaste.

Eren had selected a packet of twisties, while Levi had grabbed the mints.

"This is going to be a disaste." Eren grumbled, opening the twisties packet reluctantly. Levi had the same attitude towards the mints, grimacing as the scent wafted into the air. Eren took one twistie, Levi a mint before they swapped packets.

"On three." Levi mused. "One, two... three." They simultaneously chucked the combined food into their mouths, their faces convulsing at the mixture of textures and flavours.

"What the fuck." Eren managed to get out. "Why did we agree to do this?"

"Fucking beats me." For the next minute they chewed on the mints, the power of the twisties still coated their mouths. "Dear God." Levi said once they'd both finished. "What the was that taste even?"

"It was like... if you mixed heaven and hell together."

"You wanna go again." Levi said with a devilish grin, and Eren's heart dropped at the sight.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Do you have to go?" Eren asked, throwing the last of the chocolate wrappers in the bin.

"Unless I want mum on my tale about driving past ten when I don't have to- yeah. Sucks that school's tomorrow, otherwise I would have stayed the night."

"Well, it's a long weekend isn't it? This coming weekend?"

"I think so. We've got to get through this hellish week first." Levi stuffed the last of the snacks back into his jacket pockets.

"I still don't get why you didn't just bring a bag."

"I don't need to explain myself to you."  _That you don't._

"Well, thank you for coming." Eren and Levi walked slowly over to the door.

"When you say it like that, it seems like I'm forty year old Helen who's just come over for your, forty year old Diana, dinner party." Eren laughed, shaking his head. "All goods though, it was good to see you." Levi's voice softened. "Really good." Eren swallowed thickly, trying to not let the words get to his head.

He hadn't managed to make any proper advances on Levi like he'd planned, but strangely enough he didn't end up minding too much. He'd still gotten to spend time with Levi- and it made him realize that maybe he didn't want to fuck up their friendship. Maybe he could live off just the small bits of physical contact they shared. 

Yes, he could live with that.

"Hey, can I have one last kiss before you go? Those things are hella expensive and I'm poor." Eren asked, laughing at Levi's over exaggerated eye roll.

"Sure. Hang on." The two boys reached the door, Levi opening it and stepping outside. He faced Eren, going to dig into his pocket for the Hershey's. Eren closed his eyes and puckered his lips, waiting for the cold, harsh wrapping of the kiss.

 Eren frowned when he received the opposite being pressed against his lips.

There was a warm, soft,  _something_ pressed against his lips, and just like most things, it took Eren a moment to register what was happening.

His eyes flew open to see Levi's own, shut, and only mere centimeters away from his own.

The kiss was only brief, Levi pulling away before Eren had a chance to return it due to his shock. Eren stared at Levi, eyes open wide and mouth agape, frozen. Instead of the usual playful smirk that Levi usually wore once their faces had come so close, there was a soft smile instead.

Eren wanted nothing more than to grab Levi's arm and demand answers, to ask if it was a joke or genuine. However he could do nothing but stare at the seemingly perfect boy in front of him.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Eren. Goodnight." Levi mused, and then left. He walked seemingly normally down the driveway, hopped in his car, and drove away without a second glance back. Eren didn't close the door until Levi's headlights had disappeared from sight, and didn't move away from the door for what seemed an age. 

_You bastard. You bastard, you hot fucking smooth as fucking confusing bastard._ Eren's thought had evaporated aside from those words and a few select others, his mind blank. He tried to reminisce what had just happened, but it'd been so quick it was hard to recall. Eren managed to stumble his way to the couch, still completely frozen. Sometime later, hell if Eren knew, he heard a car pull up the driveway. Though he wished it would be Levi returning  to explain what had just happened, he knew that it was his parents and Mikasa arriving home.

He didn't bother checking the time.

He finally came to his senses enough to bring his hands to his face, absolutely breathless. All he could think of now was one thing.

_What do I do now?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :::)))  
> I smiled like an idiot writing majority of this. Can you guess which parts? :)))))


	41. Wake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren has a little dream adventure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm alive!  
> I am SO sorry it's been like forever since I've updated. Long story kinda short, I got hit by a depressive mood for a week not long after posting the last chapter, couldn't get out of bed, then school started up but it was shit and made me feel worse, then we had year 13 camp which was great but made me super tired and then I got sad from school again because just a whole bunch of shit wasn't working out and our new principal's changing everything to be shit and I've been feeling really nauseous like 24/7 and I've had a headache that last almost two weeks so laptop screen and that didn't really go well together. That and I've just felt unmotivated/inspired to do anything.
> 
> (Also, I hope you all had a wonderful Valentines day! Whether you have a partner or not, I hope you enjoyed it v much. I love you all <3)
> 
> Then one time while I was trying to sleep I came up with this little chapter and it just sorta helped me get back into it. It's kinda shit, but I like it.
> 
> Thank you all so so so so much for the comments you've left, and I love you guys v much. Again sorry for taking yonks to update, I've been feeling guilty every single day pretty much so it was killing all of us XD I wanna say the next chapter will be up tomorrow but it's athletics and I might be tired so we'll see. If not tomorrow, then definitely the day after tomorrow. 
> 
> So um yeah, I thik that's it. I'm feeling a lot better now, so no need to worry. I suspect after not writing for so long, one of these nights I'll just binge write a couple chapters so I can do some double updates.
> 
> Hope you enjoy this mini chapter!   
> (Sorry if the writing's a bit shite, its been a while :P)

Eren turned in his sleep, eyes sewed shut as his mouth opened slightly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Harsh gusts of wind nipped at Eren's ears, and though he could not see them, he knew they were burning bright red due to the chill. Over the ledge, he jumped, down the roof, he slipped. His jacket caught against a brick jutting out. He paused for but a moment, glancing forward as he rushed to free himself. The silhouette was getting further away, their shape running forever into the shining sun. Eren took a deep breath, taking off again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eren pressed his face into the pillow, breathing in a scent present only in his mind.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The water stretched out below him, great waves crashing themselves into the large brick wall of the building over and over again. Salt tinged the air, sprays of water filtering it. The brunette looked down once, then twice, before taking the leap in. He squeezed his eyes shut, the water enveloping him in a brutal embrace. It pushed him to the surface, forcing him to fill his lungs with air. He shook his head, attempting to clear the water away from both his face and eyes. Above him, the sky swirled. He looked around, looking for the silhouette. It was gone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eren rolled onto his back, hands resting above his head.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

All went black. All went numb and cold and bitter and gone all at once. When the light reappeared, he was at school. He walked around, before entering a classroom. His home desk, homework scattered over it and all, lay in the centre of the room. He sat down, and began to work on his homework. Minutes after, students began to fill the class. Marco sat next to him on the right, a stranger on the left. They laughed and worked, taking hours yet only moments all at once. Eren looked up to see his bed in the corner of the room. On it sat someone- the silhouette he'd been chasing. The teacher paid them no mind. He wanted to go over to them- to find out who it was. Why had he been chasing them again? But he couldn't leave the seat. He'd get in trouble. So, he watched on.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eren frowned, clenching his fists now. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There was no bell to ring, but everyone began to leave class. Marco waved Eren along, and together they walked over to where Hanji and Erwin were sitting. Together they devised a game, though Eren didn't quite understand it. He decided to just watch on instead. Eren looked around again, and saw the silhouette sitting in a tree. Eren paid it no mind, not wanting to interrupt Hanji and her game.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eren curled up on his side, bringing his legs up to his chest as his body relaxed under the covers.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He was walking up a big hill, on his way home. The sun was hot, though he did not feel its heat. He swam through a river, avoiding trees growing out of the bed. He tried off with a towel in his bag, and before long he had reached home. He walked inside, greeted by Mikasa and his parents. Mikasa had a day off school; she had tree trimming classes instead. Eren trudged up the stairs, ready to have a nap. He was too tired. When he opened his door, someone was sitting on his bed. It was Levi, smiling softly as he read a book. He looked up and his eyes met Eren's. The shorter male threw up his hands, the book fading away. 

"You found me!" He announced, patting the bed beside him. Eren made his way over and sat, cocking his head.

"What do you mean?"

"I've been waiting for you to catch up with me all day. You're awfully slow, you know." Levi clasped Eren's hands in his own. They felt light, almost weightless.

"Oh, right. That's what I was doing. I couldn't remember why we were running." Levi put an arm around Eren's shoulders gentle, drawing him into a hug.

"Well, we've finished running now. We can sleep if you want. Or go for a drive. I hear the firefly park is open soon. We could go see that?"

But Eren was too tired to reply, instead leaning into Levi's ever welcoming embrace.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eren opened his eyes just as the sun began to rise, and the birds began to sing.


	42. Supermarket Serenade

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren and Levi take a trip to the supermarket, and Eren has a question to spring upon Levi.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WHOOO HAS THIS BEEN A WILD WEEK. Gone straight into internals, my sibling got punched thrice for no reason (who just made memes about it straight after it happened and is completely fine) and I'm getting new glasses. So um yeah sorry, that's why this update has come out so late~
> 
> Just wanted to say thank you so much for being understanding about my shitty update shedule, it really means a lot!
> 
> I love this fic and I have so many ideas, but a part of me just really wants it to end because I've been working on it for so long. Seriously, this commitment is something else. I'm not gonna rush it or anything obviously though, so no fear.
> 
> Sorry this chapter's a bit shit, but I hope you enjoy it anyway!!  
> (Ew after editing I hate this chapter so much. Oh well.)

The wind slapped Eren across the face, causing him to glare up at the sky. He shivered as the cold continued to settle over his skin, wondering where the sun that had been shining only moments ago had disappeared off to.

"So, that's why Delphina is better than Crystalite."

"Yeah, but you have to admit, Ironica is way better than both of those two combined." Erwin leaned against the classroom, smiling. Armin's was identical.

"You're both nerds." Connie grumbled, plucking a piece of grass. "No one cares about your books."

"Oh let them have their fun." Hanji mused, tossing a pebble at Connie's feet. "You're just being a grumpy little shit." Connie pouted at his friend, tossing the pebble back to her.

Eren bit into his apple, looking down at his bag. His eyes wavered, but he managed to force them into staying still. He leg began twitching before he started tapping his finger against the apple. Eventually he couldn't fight it anymore, and Eren looked up.

Levi was watching Erwin and Armin, eyes empty and face impossible to read. Eren quickly looked down again.

They weren't avoiding each other- but they weren't exactly trying their best to interact. In fact, they hadn't spoken to each other since interval hours earlier, and even that had been only a brief 'hello'. He'd tried to bring himself to say something, but he knew he wasn't a man of confrontation. And anyways, surely it wasn't a him thing. What do you do when your friend who you've had a crush on for months suddenly kisses you, and you don't even know if it was genuine or not? All Eren knew was, it didn't seem appropriate to just walk up and ask what  he meant by the kiss.

"...yeah, but if you think about it she's more likely to live longer considering she's in politics more. I guess then it really comes down to whether you believe a leader, especially in monarchy, should be more politically or military inclined."

"What book series are you guys talking about?" Eren asked, leaning forward to be closer to the conversation. Just because he wasn't socializing with Levi, didn't mean he had to exclude himself from other conversations.

"The Historia Dynasty one."

"Oh, you mean the one Mikasa gave you for your birthday?"

"You remember it!" Armin's eyes lit up.

"Yeah, you talked to me about it for weeks while you were reading it." Eren smiled at the memory. Though Armin still didn't know, Eren had once fallen asleep when Armin had called him at 2 am crying about a character death. The phone call had lasted two hours, but Eren only remembered about forty minutes of it. Armin was exhausted the next day, eyes still slightly red from obvious crying. 

"Well, if you remember, do you think Iskran or Erfinis the second should lead in the next book?"  _Dear God, I don't remember that much._

"Um, well-"

"I'm gonna go to the super market." Levi's clean voice cut through the conversation as he stood. Eren sentence ceased, and he looked at Levi's face properly for the first time that day.  _Why does he have to be so pretty?_

"Cool, could you get me some chocolate." Erwin asked, tossing a two dollar coin to Levi. Said boy turned to Eren, face blank.

"You coming?" Eren's mouth fell open slightly, and suddenly there were no words left in his brain. He stumbled for a few seconds, finally snapping out of the daze when Levi's eyebrow did it's signature raise.

"Yeah, um, that- that sounds good. I'll just-" Eren stood, hit by a wave of nausea as his body registered that he'd stood too quickly. He reached down to grab his bag, stabilizing himself on it first. Armin glanced at Connie before handing over his SCAT badge, both of the boys silent and sharing  _that_ look. Eren hadn't seen it in a long while.

"You can leave your stuff here, we'll only be a minute. I'm not taking mine." Eren opted to say nothing, nodding his head as he released his grip on the bag.

They meandered their way through the school, avoiding teachers and students alike. Eren himself didn't really want to make contact with anyone- and Levi seemed to have the same idea. The reached the bus bay, double checking that there were no teachers in any direction. Eren looked behind them and to his side, while Levi took his side and ahead of them. Eren smiled, noting how time hadn't ruined their little system.

Neither of the boys spoke, the only communication between them being eye contact as they walked out of school to make sure they weren't spotted. Sure they had their badges if necessary, but it wasn't really something they wanted to bother with.

At first the silence was awkward for Eren, and it took everything he had to not glance at Levi's lips constantly and think  _they were on mine._ He tried his best to avoid the temptations, but he didn't always manage. Eventually the silence became natural and familiar, and the tension from his body ebbed away. He'd talk to Levi about the kiss- hell, how could he not? But it could wait until they departed, or were in the supermarket at least. Eren still didn't know whether Levi did it to mess with him or not, so he had to keep his guard up. If he slipped up, god only knew how it would fuck up their whole rumour joke. He just hoped that Levi wouldn't be put off from their friendship.

"How are you?" Levi asked, kicking a stray rock onto the road. Eren paused, mind reeling.  _A trick question?_

"Um, I'm good. Tired. Mikasa woke me up at five this morning."

"I told you she's Satan." Eren laughed. Though his heart convulsed and his ribs felt constrained, he laughed. His heart rate increased, his skin stretching as his heart continued to beat faster and faster. He kept his breathing even- a contrast against what was happening in his chest.

"How are you?" Eren asked tentatively, flicking his eyes over to Levi. He appeared calm, normal- natural. It was unfair. Levi shrugged.

"I don't know, average I guess?"

"Right." Eren nodded his head, and let the conversation die. He didn't really have anything else to say. 

"Do you need to get anything?" Levi wasn't ready to let it go, it seemed.

"No, I'm good." Eren fiddled with his jacket zipper. "What did you need to get?"

"Just some cream for a back to school welcome." Eren blushed slightly, mentally slapping himself for it.

"Okay, cool." He said, nodding slowly. "Sounds good."

The two boys entered the supermarket, the taller of the two trying to keep a slight distance. He didn't trust himself to not do something stupid. They manoeuvred their way through the supermarket, doing their best to avoid running into students and teachers alike just like they had back at school. They eventually reached the freezers at the back of the supermarket, and began their search.

"What type of cream are we talking?" Eren shivered as he got closer to the freezers.

"Well nothing too shitty, but also not too expensive."

"So, blue top?"

"Yeah, that'll do."

"How much, like what size?"

"Enough." Eren blew air out his nose. He gave Levi a pointed look, though said boy was facing the other way.  _How the hell am I supposed to know what's enough?_

The two went through the different creams, Eren offering different flavours and sizes. Levi turned each one down. He had wandered over to the other side of the freezer, still facing away from Eren. 

The brunette took a deep breath, biting his lip. Now was the perfect time to bring up the kiss- he couldn't just keep leaving the conversation to drag on. He could play it off as a joke anyway, if it went south.

The real problem was, Eren didn't want it to be a joke. He wanted Levi to have been serious, he wanted to kiss Levi over and over again until his lips went numb and he could kiss no more. He wanted to reach the closeness where his heart would race around the rack of his rib cage every day, every moment possible. So he took a deep breath, and picked up another bottle of cream.

"Hey, so um, Levi. I, I was just thinking- thinking about... well I've been thinking and wondering about yesterday. Last night, I mean. And how you um, well, you- you know. What happened. Um-" Eren took a deep breath, scowling at the freezer with eyes closed. He took one last deep breath and put down the bottle before continuing.

"Look so um, yeah. I've been thinking about what happened. I was just wondering if you like, meant it, I guess? If that makes sense. I mean you can't sit there and pretend we haven't been... physical, lately, and I just wanted to know if you just did it for shits and gigs or if it was for... other reasons." Eren waited, staring int the freezer. The cold had settled into his skin and frozen his bones as he found himself unable to move. He waited for what felt like centuries, but Levi didn't speak. Frustrated, at both himself for speaking the words and for Levi being an asshole sending mixed messages, Eren picked up a cream bottle at random. He began to turn.

"Here, just get this one. I have it at home. We're just wasting time-"

Eren very suddenly found himself in a very similar position he had been in the night before. 

His eyes widened as he looked straight down at Levi's eyelids, starstruck. Levi's lips were just as if not softer than they had been when they'd first kissed, and Eren wasn't making the same mistake he'd previously made. He too closed his eyes, and returned the kiss. Doubt began to crawl into his mind, the usual suspicion that Levi meant it as a joke. But a kiss was a kiss after all, and he wasn't about to turn one down from Levi.

It was a bit difficult at first, Eren not having any previous kissing experience, but eventually they found a rhythm. After a moment Levi tentatively put a hand on Eren's waist. Clouds floated by behind his eyes, and birds were singing in his throat. He went to go bring Levi closer to him, wanting to feel his body against his own when something went crashing to the floor.

Eren launched himself backwards, eyes shooting straight to the ground. Levi took a step back also, chuckling when he discovered the source of their distraction.  Eren began to blush, mumbling as he leaned down to pick up the bottle. He'd forgotten about the cream in his hand, completely lost to the moment. Too bad it was the thing that ended said moment he was enjoying so much.

Eren straightened up, and stood facing Levi. He didn't know what to say, Levi had kissed him  _again._ His luck was just too good.

"So, uhh..." He began to kick at the ground, eyes flicking to the floor. Levi just laughed once more, taking the bottle from Eren's outstretched hand, and stalked off.

Eren turned around, frowning.

He'd still settled nothing concrete, didn't know Levi's motives. Though his lips were singing with the cheer of a thousand springtimes, so he didn't really mind much at all.  


	43. Confessions in the Rhythm of the Rain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren's been stressing and it's been raining, so a phone call from a certain someone makes his day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhh this chapter is shiiiiiiiiitttttt  
> (After editing it's not that bad I've decided)
> 
> So I'm really busy and tired throughout the school week because year 13 is a BITCH, so I decided to update on Sundays but this past Sunday I had an audition for my school's production and a couple of other things so I've had to write this chapter over a three day period including a 3 hour writing session until like 1am and I tried to fix the patchiness in editing but well you can only do so much can you `\;-;/` Also every time I sat down to write and just as I got into it someone rang me or started talking to me and I have never known frustration quite like that before because by the time I was done I was too tired and had to sleeeeeeeppp because school SUCKS. 
> 
> So yeah, I'm hoping to update Sundays which is like Saturday in America I think???? But if I'm late shit happens :::))) (Or I'm playing the new sims pack but you know o-o)
> 
> It's funny because the one thing I can't write is romance and yet here we are. Ughhhh like I enjoyed writing it but it feels stunted and shit Idk just let me know how ya'll feel if you want. I've only been in one relationship and I'm still in it and I can't remember for shit any of the beginning stuff that happened or feelings so I better do some brushing up on that knowledge before we get any further. 
> 
> I was really tired while editing also so sorry if there are more errors than usual!
> 
> But despite all this, I hope you enjoy the chapter and I'm sorry it's a couple days late!!

Eren hurled his pen across the room, grumbling as he stood to retrieve it. He checked the wall to make sure no damage had been inflicted upon it, and moped back to his bed. He threw the pen again, but didn't bother to pick it up again. He rolled onto his stomach, screaming into his pillow as the rain pattered against the window outside.

It was dark, gloomy, cold and he had an overall feeling of depression. He usually loved the rain and cold, but with all his internals piling up he couldn't find the motivation to do anything in the weather. Not to mention he felt pent up about Levi. Thinking about the boy made Eren scrunch his face up and red to spread across every inch of his face and neck. He screamed into his pillow again before turning to look out the window.

He'd replayed his first kiss with Levi over and over again, then re-lived their second kiss when the memory began to get distorted. He memorized the shape of Levi's lips, the way they moved soft and slow, the way Levi's scent drifted between them as they were so close, and all of the other details he could collect and commit to memory. That was all good and well, the problem was that he didn't know if it  _meant_ anything. He'd been trying for weeks to understand Levi's actions and the motives behind them, he'd been trying to reason with his crush and the facts laid before him, but none of it was making any more sense Every time he'd get a chance to ask, Levi would slip away with a smooth line or sidestep out of the conversation.

Eren clenched his fists, digging one into the bed.

Tuesday had passed in a blur of revision and studying, and Wednesday and Thursday had held no presence of Levi. They'd texted, but nothing beyond that. Eren wasn't the only one drowning in internals and exam revisions- everyone was. Connie has resorted to sending stressed-out study memes, Marco and Armin had shut themselves away, and even Mikasa had been more snappy around the house. The only ones who didn't seem to be affected by it was Hanji and Erwin, though that could have been predicted. As a result, Eren hadn't seen any of his friends or Levi the past week, and it was driving him a bit crazy.

The bed began vibrating, Eren's ringtone chiming throughout the room. He fished around in the dark for his phone, shielding his eyes from the bright light.

"Hello?" He mumbled, curling up on his side.

"Hi Eren!" Izzy's energetic voice filled Eren's head, causing him to wince.

"Uh, hi. How are you?" In the past week or so, he'd forgotten Izzy existed.

"I'm good, have you seen the weather? It's so cool, we haven't had rain in ages! I was scared our plants were going to die to be honest."

"Yeah, how could I not miss it. Wait-" Eren frowned. "Since when did you have my number?"

"Oh um..." There was silence on the other end for a moment.

"Izzy?"

"This is Levi's phone."

"Why do you have his phone?"

"He's being a dick so I just- borrowed it."

"Dear God, I think you'll find eventually you just made the mistake of your lifetime."

"It'll be fine, Levi loves me." Eren smiled. "Anyway, now that you've bring that up- the reason I called you."

"Yes, that needs some explaining."

"Right so Levi's been really stressed and awful and grumpy, he hasn't opened his curtains in days. So, you should come over! Then I won't have to do the dishes anymore." Eren smiled, shaking his head.

'Really? How would me coming over help?"

"Well duh, you're friends. Levi gets happy around friends and like I said, you totally could convince him to start doing the dishes again." Eren's smile broadened into a laugh. Bubbles floated in his chest, pegs pinching at his cheeks.

"Oh, um. Thanks, I guess." He laughed again. "Alright, I guess it's a deal."

"Yes! Oh also, something I've been meaning is to say that Farlan found a jacket and we don't know who it belongs to, so when you do come over you can-" The phone suddenly cut off, muffled voices following before the beeping of an end call. Eren shook his head, still smiling.  _Levi must have found her._

He rolled over, smiling outside at the dark clouds. It was the last thing he saw after his eyes closed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The world came into view as Eren's eyes opened, a faint light letting itself into his room. He yawned, sitting up, feeling the gross after nap feeling coat him like a blanket. He looked around, trying to process his surroundings. He picked up his phone, blinking several times before finally managing to read the screen. 

_6:30 pm._

_Text Message: Hey, you still coming?_

Eren frowned, trying to decipher the text before it all came coming back to him.  _Damn, she was serious?_ He unlocked his phone, smiling at the fact Isabel was able to keep a hold of Levi's phone for so long.

_Hey sorry I fell asleep. I didn't know you were being serious/meant today. I guess I can if my parents say yes. Is like 7 okay?_

The reply was almost instantaneous.

_Yeah that's fine. Should I make dinner when you get here or should I make it so it'd ready when you get here?_

_Wait so you expect Levi to do the dishes when you're the one who makes the mess? That's not very pop-punk of you. But I guess you can make it when I get there so I can help out :)_

_What are you on about?_

Eren frowned at the text.

_What do you mean?_

_..._

_???_

_Oh wait, nvm. I get where the confusion's coming from. Eren, it's Levi you dipshit._

_OH_

Eren slapped his forehead, wincing at the sudden pressure. His face heated up, smiling.  _How did I not pick up on the fact I was talking to Levi?_

_Wait so, you want me to come?_

_It'd be kinda rude to just like, destroy your invitation._

_Fair point. Besides, I hear you've been a grumpy bum_

_Don't come over, you're banished from my house._

_No no no I'm sorry I'm sorry XD. Aight, I'll see you in a bit._

_Fine._

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eren knocked on the door, shivering as the rain seeped through his clothes. The door opened after a minute-too-long revealing Levi's mother smiling brightly at him

"Come in come in, sorry for keeping you waiting. Come get warm."

"It's fine, thank you." He said with a smile. He shrugged off his jacket, leaving it in the rack. He followed Kutchel inside, smiling as he saw the Ackerman siblings lounged over each other on the couch. Eren bit back a laugh as he beheld Levi on top of the pile. Levi lazily smiled at Eren as he walked in, waving slightly. Eren waved back, heart racing. Isabel noticed next, beginning to wave more frantically than Levi.

"Eren! Glad you could make it!"

"I don't think he would have dared to not make it." Farlan muttered, clearly crushed under the weight of his siblings.

"Zip it you, remember your place." Isabel joked, patting him on the head.

"Play nice you two." Kutchel made her way back to the recliner she must have been sitting in prior to letting Eren in. Levi slid off the pile, making his way over to Eren. The two boys stood there looking at each other for a moment, both waiting for what Levi would do next. He grabbed Eren's hand, leading the brunette toward his bedroom.

"We'll come out to make dinner in a bit."

"Hey, Levi! I wanna talk to Eren, you get to see him at school! And besides, I invited him." Levi didn't reply to his sister however, and kept walking. All Eren could do was send an apologetic smile her way.

Levi practically threw the door open, shutting it once Eren was securely inside. He groaned, flopping on the bed. Eren sat awkwardly on the edge of the bed, trying to not get too close to Levi.

"Thank God you're here, this week's been shit. Talk to me about something stupid." Eren smiled wearily.

"Well, Connie's cracking under the pressure of NCEA level 2 finally and have evolved from dumb gaming memes to stupid study memes. Last night he sent me something at four AM of a rubber running away with the caption 'Rubbing away from my problems.' It was fucking stupid but I mean, it was four AM for Christ's sake."

"Fuck he's stupid." Levi chuckled. Eren just hummed in reply. There was a moment of silence before Levi spoke.

"You gonna come lie down with me or?" Eren blinked, fighting the red threatening to break out over his skin.

"Um, yeah. Yeah, sure." Eren made to lie next to Levi, but found that there wasn't really enough space to do that. He tried to sit by Levi's torso, but Levi was at such an angle that he didn't quite fit there either. In the end he gave up, and lay his head on Levi's chest. His hands, awkwardly tucked at his sides, were made to wrap around Levi's waist loosely. Eren breathed in Levi's scent, butterflies banging against his fragile rib cage as they threatened to come flying out his throat. The two boys stayed like that for a moment, listening to the rain and the constant murmur of voices coming from the lounge.

Cold hands brushed across Eren's back, gently rubbing against the material of his shirt. they then slid under, making contact with Eren's skin. The brunette's breath hitched, clutching the edge of the bed sheets.

"Um, Levi-" The shorter male stopped instantly, peering down at Eren.

"Are you uncomfortable?"

"Well, no..." Eren mumbled, leaning closer into Levi's embrace to hide the changed shade of his skin.

"Tell me if you are." Levi muttered, tightening his grip. The two boys lay in silence, the sound of the rain filling the empty space. Eren took a deep breath, squeezing his eyes shut.

"Alright, Levi. Look I think you've been, you've been avoiding the topic for like, ages but I just need to get it off my chest. I don't know it's just on my mind way too fucking much to be healthy and it need to sort it out with you." When Levi said nothing in return, Eren continued.

"I just- you kissed me." His voice wavered, causing him to pause and breathe for a moment. "Twice. And both times were kind of sudden and I didn't exactly have much time to process it both times and I just don't know if you meant it." His grip of the bed sheets tightened. "I don't know what you meant by them, like I was saying the other day. And I don't want to bother you about it but I just kind of want to know. Am I making any sense-"

Levi leaned down, silencing Eren's lips with his own. It took a moment for the brunette to respond, but after a moment his lips began to move along with Levi's.

It wasn't perfect, just like the last time hadn't been, but it was soft and sweet and slow. Levi gently tilted Eren's chin up, giving him better access to direct the kiss, his hand moving further up Eren's back. Goosebumps raised along Eren's arms. Breathing became harder as the kiss went on, and he panicked at the thought of pulling away. He chose to breath through his nose, though it wasn't the most ideal solution. Shaking slightly, Eren grabbed a fistful if Levi's shirt, bringing the boy closer. After realizing what he'd done however, the brunette hastily let go, breaking the kiss.

While Eren was panting as if he'd never breathe again, Levi seemed mostly unfazed by it.  Eren stared at Levi as he tried to recollect himself, struggling and searching around in his brain for words that had long been scattered,

"What are we, like what's going on between us? Because we're pretending, obviously and we've just friends but I mean- fuck how is this normal friend stuff? I just feel like you've caught me up in a rumour within our rumour and it fucks with my head. What are we Levi?" A silence stretched out, causing Eren to get increasingly frustrated and confused.

"How do you feel about us?" Levi said after a minute.

How did he feel indeed. He wanted their friendship to last, to continue through later stages of life is possible. It was hard to find people who make you feel comfortable, and Levi was someone Eren felt as if he'd been missing for a long time. He didn't want to ruin that- but surely he couldn't just ignore the fact he had feelings for Levi for the sake of their friendship, could he? Especially when there was a chance, just maybe if Levi shared those feelings, they could work out. So Eren took a deep breath, and told Levi exactly what he thought.

"I like you. And, fuck, I don't know, I'm starting to think that maybe it wouldn't be so bad if the rumours were true. But if you're like, oh shit damn no homo then that's all goods. I can get over it." Levi nodded slowly, looking more spaced out than anything.

"Levi?"

"Hm?"

"Are you gonna say anything or just drift?"

"You tell me."

"God you suck." Eren scoffed, smiling faintly. "Just- tell me, homo or no homo with the kisses? And the touches, I suppose." Levi slipped one of his arms out from under Eren to rake a hand through his hair, sighing deeply.

"Look, Eren. I... no homo, homo I guess? You're great, and fucking stupid and relaxing to be around and I- I don't know. I know you want a straight answer but I don't know if I can manage, the rain's fucking with my head and shit. What I'm trying to say is yeah, there's something there and the touching was just me trying to solidify the rumour and then it was for the fun of teasing you and after that... it just kind of felt right."

"Why did you kiss me that night?" Eren said quietly in return. Levi just smiled.

"I'll tell you some other time."

"Levi that's not fair, you asshole."

"Stop being a brat, I've already spilt too many beans for today."

"Alright, fine. Some other time then. But..."

"But?"

"What about now, where do we go from here I guess?"

"You sounds so fucking dumb saying that."

"I know, shut up and answer the question."

"Well hell if I know." Levi shrugged his shoulders. "We'll take it slow, call it what we want and do what we want."

"Okay, sounds good." Eren nodded slowly, and couldn't stop the grin from covering his face. A thought came to Eren, and though it felt like a stupid thing to clarify it was something he had to do. "So we're like, official?"

"Yeah, I suppose.

"...Exclusive?"

"Jesus Eren, we're trying to spread a rumour about us dating, not a rumour of a fucking cheating-affair situation. It's not like I've got anyone else to do this shit with, you literally take up all my time. Well, you and Hanji." Eren laughed, shaking his head.

"Alright, alright. Hey, do you think-"

The door swung open, sending a rush of air towards the two boys. Isabel bounced into the room, stopping dead in her tracks and the sight of Eren and Levi bundled up so close together on the bed. She smirked as she continued forward and grabbed Eren by the arm, tugging him upwards.

"Come on Levi!" She hollered, succeeding in getting Eren to stand up from the bed. "You've had your time with Eren, share him with the rest of us!"

"Really Izzy? It's been like, ten minutes." Levi growled, sitting up with a glare.

"Yeah sorry, I tried to stop her but it didn't quite work." Farlan leaned against the door frame with a smile. "Sorry about that."

"I can tell." Levi muttered.

Isabel began rambling away as she dragged Eren out of Levi's room, and was completely oblivious to the smile that had taken over his face. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic's gonna be so long hngggg :') Hope ya'll don't mind!


	44. Bedridden Recollection

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren rly likes Levi, and his mind won't et him forget it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Today, 15th March, a terrorist attack happened in Christchurch New Zealand with 49 innocent lives lost and many injured, being the largest mass shooting in New Zealand history. It was carried out by disgusting white supremacists. I just want to quickly say that though it is extremely unlikely, if any of you happen to be in NZ as a Muslim or living in Christchurch or were there when it happened, I'm thinking of you and everyone else who has been affected by this horrible, horrible crime that's been committed in our beautiful country. It feels so unreal and I'm just so so sorry it happened. Sending thoughts and love your way. Arohanui, kia kaha <3 And for anyone who by a slim chance participated in the climate change strike, I hope you felt and still do feel empowered despite the attack washing out what was accomplished in the news.
> 
> Sorry I missed last weeks update, I've had lots stuff going on~ I've got lots of stuff coming up this week as well like my birthday so if I'm late with updating that's why~ Positive though, I didn't get into production (rip) so I'll have more time to update.
> 
> Sorry this chapter is short, I'm splitting it into two because I'm really tired while writing it and can't handle editing the whole thing but I just really need to get something out there or I'll combust. I'll be updating tomorrow so it's like a very delayed double update ^.^
> 
> Again sending love, and (while I hate thr ay this chapter's written) I hope you guys enjoy the chapter~

Eren pushed back the covers, the only light shining through the darkness coming from his smile. He reached over to check the time again, squinting at the brightness of the phone light. The last time he'd checked it was 1:56, and only six minutes had passed if he was seeing it right. He groaned, putting down the phone, though his mood was quickly enlightened as he remembered about his earlier bliss.

He tried to capture the memories of his moments with Levi and trap them in a jar, watched them before letting them go to make room for catching more. He re-imagined the feeling of Levi's fingers trailing across his skin, replicated the sound of his laugh and the warmth of his skin. There was only one thing causing ripples in Eren's thoughts.

The fact that they weren't officially dating.

They were  _something,_ Eren knew that much. He knew that they'd see where they were going, and he knew that they were exclusive, but he didn't know what label to put on their relationship. Friends-testing-out-feelings-for-each other was too weird and too casual, friends with benefits wasn't right at all, and boyfriends didn't quite sit either.

He replayed his and Levi's conversation from the two nights previous, him and Levi on the latter's bed before Isabel came in and interrupted them. Eren's face burned at Levi's words.  _"...and then it was for the fun of teasing you and after that... it just kind of felt right."_ While it slightly embarrassed Eren, the fact that Levi got a kick out of his reactions, he couldn't help but smile at it. That smile was still on his face as he drifted out of consciousness.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The brunette stumbled as he took his thrd step, leg smacking into the corner of his desk. He let out a loud groan, instinctively rubbing the area.  _That's gonna form a bruise._

"Come on Eren, I wanted to leave ten minutes ago!" Mikasa yelled from outside Eren's room, causing her brother to groan louder. It didn't take him long to get ready, but Mikasa was still grumbling as they walked out the door and into the car.

"Why are you so... dead this morning?" Mikasa huffed, turning the ignition. 

"Couldn't sleep." Eren struggled to do up his seatbelt, but got there in the end.

"That's because you've messed up your body clock. Damnit it, now we're gonna be late."

"No we won't, you're overreacting." Eren felt nothing short of groggy, his vision blurring and his arms feeling more like blocks of wood than limbs. 

"Whatever." His sister muttered, and off they went. The traffic was reasonably okay, meaning it wasn't long before Eren was practically toppling out of the car and ascending the A block stairs to his tutor class.

"Heyy if it isn't Eren!" Connie hooted as the sight of Eren. Said boy just grunted, flopping down in the seat next to his frind and letting his head bag on the desk.

"Rough night?"

"Mmmmm."

"Did you at least do the English homework?" Eren's head snapped up at Connie's words.

"What English homework?"

"Oh thank god, I'm not the only one who didn't do it."

"No seriously- what homework?"

"The unfamilair text questions. You know, the one about the stool?"

"Oh, right. Fuck." Eren considered getting the work out, but his head made the final decision as it came crashing down once again.

"Why didn't you do it?" Connie laughed. A smile slowly crawled onto Eren's face. He felt as if he were swaying, remembering the thoughts he was too busy having to think about any English homework.

"I dunno, just sort of forgot about it."

"Really? Because it seems like you had something to thoroughly distract you."

"Nope, just forgot. What about you, why didn't you do it?"

"Sasha kept me up talking last night and by the time we were finished me doing any homework was a lost cause." Eren tried to focus on the words Connie was saying, but everythign was slowly slipping away fromhim...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eren trudged up the stairs, combing a finger through his hair as he blew out a breath. He took a sip from his energy drink, having more energy than he'd had in a while. His P.E teacher had seen him sruggling to bounce the ball and decided that a little pick-me-up was needed. The first period had been hell to get through, biology being a struggle on a good day let alone a sleep deprived one, and P.E had been a bit of a rollercoaster. He was just thankful for interval. Heentered the classroom and greeted everyone as usual. Itvwas only moment after he sat down however that Eren realisd he probably should have been sittig with Levi, Hanji and Erwin. Guilt burned through him, and he began to pack up his things slowly. He and Levi hadn't seen each other since that weekend, the previous day being one so busy Eren and Levi hadn't gotten the chance to see each other at all. Eren stood, but before he could pick up his bag Marco was speaking.

"Hey- where are you going?"

"Oh, uh. I'm gonna go see Levi and stuff. You know, since it's been a while."

"Really? You haven't seen us a while either." Armin protested, though backed down immediatly after.

"Yeah, dickhead." Jean jumped on board. "Not that I really care what you get up to, but we hardly see you anymore."

"Not to be those jealous friends that claim you can only talk to us," Marco interjected, "We just feel like you haven't sat with, just  _us_ in a while. Not that you have to-"

"Now you're being too nice." Thomas scoffed. He turned to Eren. "Come on Eren, Hanji's not gonna eat you alive if you hang out with us for one interval." Eren shifetd his weight from foot to foot, looked out the window, clasped his hands together, and finally dropped back into his seat. He smiled warily at hs friends.

"Yeah no, you- you guys are right. Sorry."

"You don't have to be sorry!" Armin rushed. "You can do what you want." 

"And I want to hang out with you guys." Eren nodded with a smile at his blonde friend. 

It was true, he really did want to hang out with his original group, but he also kind of really wnted to, kind of referred the idea of sitting with his kind-of-boyriend. He also didn't want Levi to feel as if he wasn't making an effort into whatever their relatioship was. As a way to try and ease his guilt, Eren send a quick text asking Levi if he needed to go to the supermarket at lunch. A pit dropped in his stomach once the text sent however.

It wasn't like they were properly dating- not yet anyway. He put his head in his hands, breathing out quickly. He didn't want to seem uninterested, but he also didn't want to come off as too eager. Besides, even if they were, that didn't mean they had to spend every break together. So Eren bared his teeth, and tried to enjoy the rest of his interval without Levi.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I'm just gonna go take something to Hanji real quick. I'll see you later." Eren said to Armin, splitting off from the path before his friend could say anything to try and dissuade him.

He didn't really need to give something to Hanji, he just wanted to see Levi.

He felt like an asshole, he felt stupid and childish but he couldn't help how he was feeling. Besides, they had to keep the rumour up after all.

Eren approached their sitting area, smiling at what each of his three friends were doing. Hanji was on the phone having some sort of eccentirc conversation, while both Levi and Erwin were engrossed in books. Straight away Eren could see there was no seat beide Levi, and though he thought Erwin was great it would mean he'd be sitting further away from Levi. The last place Eren could, and chose to sit, was on the grass next to the bench Levi sat on.

"Hey guys." Eren said ith a slight smile.

"Hey." Erwin and Levi said, both looking up from their books with welcoming faces. Eren dropped onto the grass, crossing his legs. He glanced up to see that both males had returned to the land of their books. Not really knowing what to do, Eren plucked a blade of grass and began to peel it. The another, then another, and another and another... Eren had resorted to pulling out his phone when Levi leaned down to whisper in his ear.

"Hey, do you wanna do something for the rumour after school? It's been a while." Eren blushed as tingles ran down his bones, all throughout his body.

'Um, yeah." He mumbled, looking down with ears right red. "Cool, sounds good."

"Great." Levi sat up and began reading once again. It took a moment for Eren to come down, and a further moment to gain the courage to look up at Levi. Instead of finding Levi's attention when he did however, he found Erwn's smiling face instad. 

The brunette quickly looked away, opting to keep to himself and think about al the other things Levi could do with his ips so close to his ear.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also again sorry it's so short, and so many time skips UGH!


	45. I'm really tired :')

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Forest Photo taking, some gay sprinkled in at the end :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote a 4000-word classics report in five hours during all of my classes in one day. I didn't leave it until the night before, but rather the day it was due.
> 
> That along with the fact that I had to perfect a southern accent summarises how my year 13 is going :')
> 
> But yeaahhhhh sorry I've taken forever to update. School has sucked and made me really overwhelmed and sad, it's dawned on me that all my friends are leaving for uni next year so I'm trying to socialise more, I've picked up roller skating and I've just been feeling really depressed lately. I haven't forgotten about this fic, I'm just really sad lol.  
> Holidays are coming up at the end of this week though, so yay!
> 
> Hopefully I'll be updating more often because I've been feeling happier these past few days and as I said it's almost the holidays. I've got lots of things planned and I'm moi excited to get back into writing this!  
> Sorry this chapter is late, short, and badly edited.  
> Hope you somewhat enjoy! :)

Eren threw on the indicator, peering around the corner before turning into it. Running a hand through his hair, the brunette pulled into Levi's driveway. He took one deep breath, then another before finally working the courage to get out of the car.  _Calm down you stupid fuck, it's just Levi._

The whole ordeal at lunch had set Eren off edge all afternoon, making him feel startled, jumpy and sensitive all at once. Mikasa had mentioned his hair was turned up the slightest and he lost it, and when his mum has touched him on the shoulder the counter gifted him a bruise on his shin.

Eren didn't manage to lift his arm when the door opened to reveal Isabel.

"Hi Eren!" She waved, already pulling him in.

"Oh, hey. How are you?"

"I'm good thanks. Now I have something to tell you, I-"

"Isabel leave him alone." Levi came around the corner, phone in hand. "Hi Eren."

"Hi." Eren waved awkwardly, half of his arm still engulfed by Isabel. She let go with a pout as Levi stared her down, and she stepped away from Eren.

"I'll tell you later then." She said curtly, stalking back off in the direction of the lounge. Eren frowned as he faced Levi.

"Do you know what she was gonna say?"

"No and who cares." Levi growled, grabbing Eren's hand to tug him along.

"Okaayy then." Eren mumbled, letting himself be strung alone. Outside they went, Levi yelling a quick goodbye to his mother. "So where are we going?" Levi's touch was burning through Eren's flesh, setting him alight.

"There's a forest just a bit further up, at the end of the street. It's really close so we can walk."

"You sure you're not leading me to my murder spot?" Eren joked. Levi just huffed, still tugging Eren along. 

As Levi promised, it only took the boys about ten minutes to reach their destination. Eren surveyed their surroundings, in awe of how it all looked. 

The trees stood tall, towering over the two boys and everything else that fell beneath their gaze. The sun still peeked over distant hills, the blue in the sky not yet faded into deep purples and pale pinks. The grass was untouched by human presence, reaching and stretching up to the clouds roaming high above. Eren smiled, thinking about all of the beautiful and suggestively-romantic photos they would be able to take.

"en... Eren." Said boy faced Levi quickly, an apologetic smile on his face. 

"Yeah?"

"Damn you're deaf, I said your name like four times."

"Sorry. This place is beautiful."

"I know, that's why I brought you here." Levi huffed, marching over to a small clearing. "Come on, we can start with like those stupid lying down in tall grass holding hands thing."

"You could sound more enthusiastic you know, those photos get lots of attention." Eren made his way over, eyeing up the grass. He put his back to Levi, then let himself drop into the grass. His stomach briefly tipped out, slamming back into his body as he made contact with the soft spring of the grass.

"Doesn't make them any less dumb" Levi muttered, joining Eren is a far less dramatic way.

"Alright, ready?" Eren smiled cheesily, waving his hand in the air. Levi rolled his eyes as he reached up tho grab Eren's hand. Eren chuckled as his arm wasn't long enough to reach his own, causing Levi to sharply elbow Eren in the side. The brunette winced as he lowered his arm to Levi's reach.

"Who's taking the picture?"

"I will, the sun's right in my eyes."

"And?"

"And, that means that I can have the sun going right into the camera." 

Eren took a few photos, even dropping it once on Levi's face. He'd laughed and Levi's lips had thinned, but Eren managed to keep his life. After that Levi decided he didn't trust Eren with the camera anymore, and they proceeded to take more photos of different variations. They took some between trees with Carl in their arms, took some with Eren hanging upside down from multiple surfaces, and they even took photos of the pair re-doing overly coupley photos from the internet.

The light began to eventually fade, the lighting of the sun disappearing from sight. The two boys decided that their little photo shoot was very and they would pick out the photos they'd post another time. As they walked back to the car, Eren glanced nervously at Levi.

Throughout the afternoon Levi had help Eren's hand, brushed against his back and sides, doing all sorts of things to Eren's poor little heart. Although Eren knew the photos that they had been taking were just silly little jokes, the fact that they were doing stereotypical couple poses when they were kind of a couple made him have a fuzzy feeling spread throughout his body.

"Hey, Levi?"

"Yeah?" Levi stopped just a few steps ahead of Eren.

"Um." Eren began to kick at the ground, dust spiraling upwards. "So I was just wondering... are we gonna like, go on dates and stuff?" He swallowed thickly, flicking his eyes up to meet Levi's.

"Oh, uh, maybe? I mean, if you want to." Levi shrugged his shoulders before resuming walking. "I suppose that's what dating is right?" Eren shook his head slightly, moving to catch up with Levi.

"Yeah. I guess. Cool." Eren heated up, making a point to walk a step further from Levi. Levi looked at Eren thoughtfully, as if he were about to do something. He turned back however, continuing on in silence.

The walk didn't take too long, but by the time the two made it back to Levi's the moon had appeared in the sky and the cold had started to settle in. They hurried into Levi's house, greeted by the smell of warm beverages.

"You gonna stay for a drink?' Levi dropped his jacket on the bed, looking up at Eren expectantly.

"Nah, I better go. Mum'll have my head if I'm driving past 9:30."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. She's a scary woman my mother."

"That's no way to talk about such a wonderful lady." Levi clucked. Eren smiled, shrugging his shoulders. "Well then, I guess I'll walk you out."

Eren said his goodbye's to the Ackerman's, receiving a bone crushing hug from Isabel in the process. They eventually made it to the front door, where the two stood in an awkward, stretched silence.

"Well, that was fun." Eren smiled, running a hand through his head.

"Yeah, it was good. I'll send you the photos later tonight."

"Cool, sounds good." The silence continued.

"Right, well-"

"Yep, I better go. I'll see you tomorrow I guess?"

"Yeah, see you tomorrow." Eren contemplated hugging Levi, but decided against it. He began the walk to his cold, fending off as many mosquitoes as he could. He was just about to unlock the doors when he heard Levi shout his am. He looked over to see the short male, in black socks and all, walking towards him.

"You alright?" Eren frowned, arms dropping to his side. Levi stopped in front of Eren, arms crossed as he stared into Eren's eyes. 

"Are you free next weekend?"

"Uh yeah, should be. Why?"

"Do you want to go on a date then?" Eren blinked, tempted to pinch himself.

"Um, yeah, that sounds awesome."

"Okay. I'll see you tomorrow then." Levi stepped towards Eren quickly, kissing him on the cheek. He then turned, walking back to the house. He closed the door without looking back at Eren, who had a smile as bright as the rising moon resting on his face. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After editing I've realised just how short and shitty this chapter is, sorry :/ It'll be better next update I promise :)


	46. Classroom Catch-up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren and Levi run into each other in the school hallway. :)))

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The fact that you guys wait for me to update is so wack like, I'm just going about my life doing shit and someone's out there thinking 'when is this bitch gonna update it's been two weeks.'
> 
> I say this every time but hm sorry it's a shortie chapter, I suck and I'm tryna deal with it and I haven't had the will power to just binge out 5000 words. I promise they'll get longer :))  
> I hope you enjoy it  
> I did :))

_Okay, well I suppose we could do something dramatic?_

_I can't be bothered._

_Okaayyyy then. But like people will just forget about it over the holidays and Idk I just feel like it's kind of an ordinary thing now and people don't really give a shit._

_People will care as long as it's not confirmed or denied, which we haven't done either at the moment. If we do some big stupid shit, it will be obvious._

_Well I'm not saying it has to somehtign OVERLY BIG, just somethign that'll make people think._

_I don't know Eren._

_Alright, we'll just do something small then or just act like normal. I'm not too fussed I guess, I'm just excited that next week school's finally finished. Then exams can anal me, and then we'll be free._

_You sure those are the words you wanna use?_

_Shut up._

_Fuck you._

_Holy shit, it's fucking 2am._

_Oh. Well I guess we better sleep then._

_Sounds like a plaan._

_Okay, goodnight. See you tomorrow._

_See you tomorrow._

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eren blinked, clearing away the blurriness from his eyes. Tapping his pencil on the edge of the table he glanced over at Connie's page.

"I'm stuck, is this where we use the distribution sheet or not?"

"Oh thank god, I'm confused too." Connie breathed out, leaning back in his chair. He turned to Armin, desperation clear on his face.

"Armin, do we use the distribution sheet for this question?" The blonde sighed quietly, then faced his friends with a blank expression. 

"We literally just did a distribution sheet question, do you really think they'd get you to do one after another?"

"You never know, NZQA are assholes." Eren huffed, still tapping his pen violently. Armin rolled his eyes, turning back to his own sheet.

"No, this isn't a distribution sheet question. It's a graph one, which you would know if you actually looked at the sheet."

"Someone's grumpy," Connie mumbled into Eren's air, causing the brunet to smile.

"Eren can you please come here?" Eren huffed before making his way over to the teacher's desk, a smile on his face.

"Yes miss?"

"I need you to please take a note down to a classroom for me."

"Ugh miss why me? I'm actually getting somewhere!"

"Because I trust no one quite like you my sweet Eren." Said boy rolled his eyes before reaching out a hand for the night.

"Just for you, miss."

"Thank you." She smiled, turning away as soon as the note was passed over. Eren signalled to Connie and Armin that he was heading out, Connie sending a look that said 'take me with you' and Armin sending one saying 'please do take him with you.' Eren laughed both of them off however and left the room.

At first he huffed and puffed, wishing he were back in the class so he didn't have to finish off the sheet for homework and hopelessly text Armin asking for help. As he continued however, he realised that he didn't have to do the sheet maybe, he could just say he did. he looked at the time as he walked down the stairs, and upon discovering that there were only ten minutes left of the period he decided that it really was in his best interest to waste the rest of the period. By the time he got back, Armin and Connie would be too far ahead into the questions for Eren to merely jump back in, so Eren confirmed the idea of fucking around A block until the last minutes of class.

He walked past multiple classes, sometimes even stopping outside for a moment to listen in on what was being taught. Most of the classes were, unsurprisingly, junior classes, and though it had been many years since Eren had last been in those classes, some of what was taught remained fresh in his mind. A lot of it had disappeared into nothingness, but at least he was able to recall the important bits from his first few years of high school.

After going up and down the level multiple times, Eren finally decided that enough time had been wasted. He swung the heavy door open and began his slow descent down the hall, still keeping an ear out for any teachers or students that may exit a classroom. Realising that he hadn't actually checked what classroom it was he was supposed to be going to, Eren looked intently at the paper resting in his hands.

A weight bumped into his side, causing his head to snap up with an apology already on his lips. The words were quickly replaced with a tentative smile when he saw who the bumper was.

"Oh- uh hey." Eren smiled, arms going slack

"Hey," Levi smiled, arms crossing. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing."

"Well if you'd just look behind me, you'd get your answer." Eren did as told, mouth forming a small 'o' as he saw the bathroom sign.

"Right."

"Yeah. You, on the other hand, look like an escaped convict. And by an escaped convict, I mean it looks like you're ditching class."

"Who said I'm not also on a bathroom break?"

"Because everyone knows you don't use the A block bathrooms unless it's the third floor." Eren smiled at his feet, shuffling slightly.  _Even Armin can never remember that._

"Okay, well I'm actually on my way to deliver a note. From my maths teacher, not on my own business." Levi's eyes slid down to the base of Eren's neck. "I don't understand why she didn't just do it herself you know? I mean I was  _actually_ doing work today, and I was quiet or most of the period. Maybe she just got suspicious, or maybe-" Levi's arm reached out, landing on the taller boy's chest. His wrist remained on the tip of Eren's collarbone, the rest of his hand curling around to fiddle with the collar of his shirt. The space between the brunet's heart and ribs became smaller, his claustrophobic heart beating faster and faster to prepare for the complete lack of space it was beginning to have. Levi's eyes made contact with Eren's once more, raising an eyebrow as he continued to play with a stray thread.

"Maybe...?" His voice trailed. Eren swallowed thickly.

"Maybe... I was thinking that... that maybe she thought I was finished with my work. Like- the question that I was working on. Or maybe I was just the closest to her..." Levi extended his arm further, threading his fingers in Eren's locks.

"Levi." Eren breathed, his name coming out more like a whimper than Eren would have liked. Levi clearly tried to hide a smile, though he failed miserably as a short chuckle escaped from his lips.

"Yes?"

"You're an asshole."

"I know." Levi brought their faces together, their lips catching each other as their heads tilted to meet each other. Eren's eyes lulled, his body going slack from the moment his and Levi's lips touched. It was so out of the blue yet natural, as all of Eren's wildest dreams and fantasies came crashing down into reality. It was a strange thing, a strange feeling being kissed by a beautiful boy who was thought to be so far out of reach. Levi tried to pull away, however Eren stepped forward to keep them connected, not yet ready to let go. His arms tentatively make their way to sit on Levi's hips, fingertips grazing the fabric of his shirt.

"Eren," Levi mumbled through the kiss, the movement sending a vibration through Eren's entire body. "We can't make out in the hall." Eren leaned back just enough to speak.

"I mean there's a bathroom right there."

"What? Ew, fuck no." Eren laughed as Levi pushed himself off Eren, scowling at the door. "That's disgusting, do you have no basic sense of hygiene."

"They do it in all the movies." Eren shrugged. He touched his face absent-mindedly, acknowledging the fact that his face was hotter than it was a moment ago.

"What movies are you watching? I've got to get back to class anyway." Eren frowned.

"But there's only like five minutes left."

"Yeah, well I've left my damn stuff in the class haven't I?" Levi rolled his eyes, and when it was apparent Eren still wasn't too keen on returning to class yet, he began walking down the hall past classrooms. Eren followed like a lost puppy, though not quite sure what it was they were looking out for.

Levi stopped outside a class with the lights out, and Eren held his breath as the doorknob was carefully twisted, and pulled open. Eren looked to Levi with eyebrows raised, nodding slightly. Levi smirked before tugging Eren into the class.

"Why's it empty?"

"It's miss Geor's room, she doesn't have a class this period but she's got one next so she leaves it unlocked."

"And she doesn't think that anyone's gonna discover it and wander in to make out in?"

"She's a bit outdated, don't think the thought would have occurred to her."

"Alright, what about the fact that anyone could just wander in and take anything?"

"It's a maths class in A block, do  _you_ think someone would wander in here and take something?"

"Then care to explain how you know about it?" Eren looked around the room, debating whether they should turn on a light or not. "And how did you know her time table?"

"It was Erwin's class before he swapped out of it. She used to let him have extra time in tests because he's an overachiever and would spend ages on the excellence questions."

"Why did he swap out of maths?"

"Is that really the most pressing thing on your mind right now? Because if it is, I can happily spend the little time we have explaining why Erwin-" 

"Alright alright, I get it." Eren huffed.

"Great. Then if you're finally done talking..." Eren's face heated up, the dark hiding his slight change in colour. Levi tugged Eren along to the back of the class, Eren feeling as if his legs had disappeared from beneath him and if they were heavy pillars at the same time. Levi leaned himself against the back wall, then brought Eren down to his height by his collar gently, smiling for a moment before the two boys finally closed their eyes and gave into the kiss.

Levi's lips were a match and Eren was the gasoline, setting his clothes and skin on fire in an instant. The sudden heat took his breath away, the goosebumps lining his skin causing shivers to run across his spine like tiny pinpricks. Their lips moved slow, Eren tilting his head slightly to be closer to Levi. The brunet slid his hands with more confidence to Levi's waist, clutching the hem of his shirt. Eren lost track of where Levi moved his hands to.

Oxygen ran away from Eren, and through every aspect of his body told him not to, he broke away from the kiss from time to time to steal a breath of air. Levi took opportunities to do the same, though not as nearly as often as Eren. Their bodies never moved closer, an unspoken border between them.

Time slipped away, the sense of it wavering as it felt like hours had passed but like none had passed at all. He wondered about when the bell would next ring, then another moment would go past and he forgot what the sound of a bell even was.

Levi pulled away, face looking-downwards as he panted slightly. Eren's hands slid up his waist, then slid down again as if she were comforting Levi.

"We should get back to class now." Levi's hands dropped from Eren's shoulders, clarity coming back to his eyes. Eren blinked, abruptly removing his hands too.

"Um- yeah. No, that's a uh... a good idea."

"Yep." The two laughed gently, both finding other, more interesting things than the other in the room.

"What's the time?"

"Umm..." Levi pulled out his phone, fumbling as he unlocked it. "We have one minute left."

"Perfect timing." Eren smiled, to which Levi rolled his eyes. 

"Right. Where did you need to deliver your note to?"

"I'm not actually sure. Hang on-" Eren reached into his pocket, searching around for the paper he'd crumbled as he quickly shoved it away. He had to squint due to the darkness of the room, but eventually the room number became clear.

"A223."

"Oh damn, that's my physics class."

"When do you have physics?"

"Now, dipshit."

"Fuck that's right."

"Yeah. I'll just take it for you, you have maths don't you?"

"At least one of us can remember timetables." Eren joked, handing over the slip.

"Mhm. Alright, I'll let you get back to class then. I guess I'll see you at lunch?"

"Yep, see you at lunch."

"Cool." Levi didn't wait for Eren as he left the room, and even when the bell rang out in the hall, Eren didn't have the will to move. He breathed deeply as voices travelled past the room, straitened his shirt and patten down his hair as the ringing of the bell disappeared. Then he snuck out of the class, and ran like hell back to class.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spiceyyyyyyy


	47. Adventurous Arcadians

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren goes out with a few of his female friends- provides some terrible fashion advice, and gets a bit of a shock when he's not so good at hiding his phone.
> 
> To cheer him up however, Levi takes him on a date that he certainly will never forget.
> 
> (IT'S A LONG CHAPTER FOR ONCE!)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I DID IT, I DID IT YA'LL. I FINALLY MANAGED TO WRITE A LONG CHAPTER. It probably won't feel too long reading it but it's like 6000 words long and took me a million years to edit :'))
> 
> I stabbed my hand the other day by accident, so that pretty much sums up my week :')
> 
> So, last week was the worst week of my life :') I won't go into detail because there's a l o t but I just felt so defeated all of last week and it felt like it was never gonna end lol. This past.. month? However long it's been since I last updated has just been super hectic with everything which is why this update is so l a t e. I was just having a major problem with sitting down and writing as well until tonight where I literally just sat for three hours and finished the damn thing. 
> 
> In writing news, our school's writing club teacher has to go to the US so I'm in charge of our writing club now! I should not have this responsibility but oh well :') I'm also really sad she's leaving because she's more of a friend than a teacher at this point. We're also off to a readers and writers festival this week which I'm super excited about because it's amazing every year, and then I'm also going to a full day of writing workshops which I'm just over the fucking moon about~
> 
> I've also got a three-day drama workshop coming up on a weekend/Friday and then it's me and my boo's four year anniversary.
> 
> So all of that and school work and some friend's birthdays means that I have no clue when the next update will be. I'm gonna try my very best, especially because school's finally calming down a little bit and just having this writing session tonight has really brought all my words back. So yeah, sorry if it's a while but I'm praying the longest it'll be is 2 weeks.
> 
> This chapter was based on the first experience I had at where they go to, and I hope I was able to somewhat capture the magic I felt. I was looking at pictures that I took while I was there so I hope that helped with the imagery?? Maybe?? But yeah, I'm really really proud and happy with chapter the so as always, I hope you enjoy it :)

Eren trailed his fingers along his skull, closing his eyes and inhaling deeply. His head lolled onto his shoulder, a smile taking over his face. The ghost of a pair of lips traced his own, and fingers that were once against his skin hovered like a fading light.

Levi. Levi, Levi, Levi. Levi and his soft sweet lips, Levi and his firm hips and his matted hair, Levi with his uneven breathing and his hands wrapped firmly in Eren's locks. Levi-

"Eren, how does this look? I was thinking that the yellow was a bit too bright but this green is not doing me any favours, is it?" Eren opened his eyes, trying not to squint at Sasha as she stood in front of the changing room with hands on her hips. He looked over her briefly, not really noticing that much change.  _They're just damn colours._

"Uh, yeah. I like the yellow better."

"Why?"

"Uhhhh... because yellow is a happy colour and you're genuinely happy?"

"Oh, come on Eren!" Sasha threw her hands in the air, looking at Eren exasperated. "At  _least_ be a good gay best friend." Eren smiled, and although he knew Sasha was just joking, he stood up so quickly the blood rushed to his head.

"Alright, Sasha, honey, sweetie. I'm gonna be real here." Sasha laughed, shaking her head. "The green is certainly the more mellow tone of colour you were going for, but it also has that more grunge aesthetic, you know? And I mean come ON girl, you gotta keep a theme right? I really think the yellow goes with all colours of jeans and skirts you have but the green just doesn't sell it you know? Honey, you've GOT to get the yellow it'd be absolutely DREADFUL to get the green, a fashion disaster! And you KNOW how TERRIBLE it must be for me to say that." Sasha clutched her sides, head still shaking as she wiped away the tears peering out from her eyes.

"Alright alright, I'll get the yellow shirt. Damn, you are oddly good at that Eren."

"Guess you could say it's one of my secret super powers." He said with a wink, and he couldn't ignore the pang that went through him.

"Um, are you two alright?" Eren turned to see Ymir and Christa standing awkwardly with several clothing items in their arms. 

"You're so fucking loud we could hear you from the other changing room. We were on the other side of the store!"

"Well, now everyone knows I have such  good gay best friend!" Sasha cheered, waddling over to give Eren a kiss on the cheek. He waved her off with a laugh, smiling to himself about how just right she really was.

"Okay then." Christa smiled, readjusting her arms. 

"So, did you decide on a pair of shorts?" 

"No." Christa huffed, sagging in defeat. "Nothing was in my size. I have shopping at these places, nothing ever fits!"

"It's okay babe. I never fit anything either."

"Oh that is not true, there are more tall people clothes than short and that's a sad, sad fact. But first world problems, right?"

"Hey, it's okay to be upset." Eren pointed out. "I mean yeah things are way worse than that, but it still sucks."

"I guess. Even then..."

"Well, onto the next shop I guess. Or, if you want babe, we can try again another day if you're not up to it anymore."

"Wait, I saw a section of really small looking shorts further down the back, did you check there?"

"What do you mean?" Christa frowned, "It's just hoodies at the back."

"No, no I mean by the window at the back." Sasha pointed in the general direction she was talking about. Christa twisted her head, a confused frown on her face.

"Oh, no. No I didn't see that-"

"Come on!" Ymir grabbed her girlfriend's arm and lead her to the section Sasha had mentioned. Eren chuckled and turned back to Sasha. She had magically conjured another pair of clothing, a smirk on her face.

"So, how do you feel about purple?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eren looked up at the order board for the fifth time, his patience running thin.

"You glaring at the thing won't make the pizzas cook any faster." Ymir rolled her eyes, tapping her fingers against the bench, just as impatient as Eren.

"Yeah, but at least it makes me feel better."

"Well it's pissing me off so stop it."

"Fine." Eren growled. 

"You're the one that wanted pizza!"

"Lie, Sasha wanted it."

"That was after you brought it up." Ymir snorted, her tapping finally ceasing. 

"Whatever, you know that-" Eren's phone buzzed, the screen lighting up as it screamed 'someone thought about you!' He fished the object out of his pocket, smiling when he saw Levi's name across the screen.

_Hey, date's on for 7 until like 9:30. So we can get home before ten. Bring like, $20-30._

Eren frowned.

_I thought it was YOU taking ME on a date but whatever. (just joking). What are we doing?_

Eren shook his head, awaiting Levi's probably-curt reply. Ymir laughed behind him, causing Eren to whip his head around and look at her. 

Ymir was looking over her shoulder, reading his texts.

His blood went cold and still, his eyes fixated on Ymir's smirk. His hands felt stiff yet full of electricity as he gripped his phone tighter.  _What do I do what do I do what do I do what do I do what do I-_

"Pepperoni, Hawaiian and cheesy garlic for Jaeger bomb?" Ymir threw her head back at the name with a cackle, but Eren couldn't even work a smile onto his face. Time didn't exist as he forced himself into motion, and every step forward towards the counter was minuscule and filled with dread. 

"Thank you." Eren muttered, reluctantly making his way back to Ymir. He stopped in front of her, praying that he wouldn't drop the pizzas as he hurriedly shoved the phone back in his pocket. The smirk had faded from Ymir's face, and she looked at him for a moment. There was something in her eyes, something like pity or sadness or confusion. But she nodded at him nonetheless, and with the curtness of it he knew that everything would be okay with her knowing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eren fumbled with his phone, biting his lip as he peered out his car window. The sky was clear and the sky was still bright, one of his favourite parts of the summer. He read over his text once more, panicking slightly at the fact that he sent it ten minutes ago and there was still no reply from Levi.

_Hey I'm here, sorry I'm half an hour early. Thought they'd be more traffic haha._

He rubbed his forearms, glancing at his jacket. Finally the text came through telling Eren to wait outside the front door for him. Eren did so, leaving his jacket behind, and breathed in the air. The warmth of the sun seeped into his skin, and his mood was instantly enlightened. 

He had beat himself up over and over when he'd arrived at Levi's house at 6:30 rather than 7. He hadn't wanted to be late, so out of paranoia showed up far too early. He hated it when people showed up before they said they would, but he hoped that Levi wouldn't mind too much.

He hurried over to the front door, looking around the garden area as to have something to do. After a few minutes the door swung open to reveal Levi, in black jeans and a slightly tight shirt that certainly didn't go unnoticed. Suddenly Eren didn't know any words in the English vocabulary, or in any language for that matter, and all he was left with was the ability to use his eyes.

"Hey." Levi huffed, hands already making their way into his pockets.

"Hey." Eren croaked, cringing at the sound of it. Neither of the two boys said anything, they just simply looked at each other.

That was the problem, Eren had found as of late. He didn't know how to act around Levi when they were like this. It was... easier, when nothing had been brought up between them. They knew their status of friendship and the flirting and the playing around was mysterious. It was frustrating of course, and he was glad that the confusion about how they felt about each other was cleared up. But still- he didn't know how to act. Didn't know what would make Levi uncomfortable or what would be pushing things to far. So he just kept staring. And staring and staring.

So much, that Levi felt the need to point it out.

"Why are you staring at me?"

Suddenly all of Eren's inner working came to life, his gears began to turn and warmth came back into his body.

"Uh, because... don't- don't panic, but there's something on your face." He rushed.  _What the fuck is wrong with me?_

Levi frowned, swiping a hand over his face. When he found an empty palm in front of him, he redirected the facial expression to Eren with a tilt of his head.

"It flew away- right before you caught it." Eren stammered, his face heating up. There was no way he was going to recover form that one. Levi brushed it off however, literally, as he brushed his hair back out of his face.

"You're an idiot. Come on." The shorter male grabbed Eren's hand as he walked past, leading the two in the direction of Levi's car. Eren's face increased in temperature.

The two wordlessly got into the car, and neither of them said anything as the engine roared into life and pulled out of the driveway. They made small talk- asking about each others' day and such. Eren didn't feel the need to tell Levi about Ymir giving him a heart attack just then. For the most part however Eren looked out the window silent just as Levi stared into the silence of the road ahead. Most of the work traffic had gone down, but there was still enough of the Saturday night traffic that it took them a while to reach the place Levi wanted to go.

The giant shopping centre of the town lay before Eren's view, and he quirked an eyebrow at Levi.

"Going on a wee little late night shopping spree are we?"

"Something like that," Levi muttered, parking the car swiftly. "Come on." He barked, "Out the car." The two exited the vehicle, making sure that they had all the necessities. Levi didn't make another grab for Eren's hand, but he wasn't really expecting it. 

"Seriously though, where are we going?" Eren had to jog to catch up with Levi.  _How are his short legs able to work so fast?_ The sun was finally beginning to settle beneath the distant hills, shadows being cast over the parking lot the two boys were currently speed-walking through.

"You'll see."

"See what?"

"You'll know when you know." Levi huffed, glaring sideways at Eren. The brunet raised his arms in defeat, barely keeping up with Levi. They continued to walk in silence, Eren feeling the pressure of their date beginning to weight down. He didn't even know where they were going- how the hell was he supposed to prepare? Maybe thy were going to see a movie- a new place had opened after all. Or maybe they really were going on a late night hopping adventure, though Eren couldn't imagine many places would be open at 7 pm.

The two came upon the main entrance, however Levi made a sharp turn before they could enter the large sliding door. Eren frowned as he jogged once again to catch up. Then the light hit Eren's face, and his whole face lit up at the sight. 

Large, bold bright letters that were illuminated by numerous colours flashed and flared above them, spelling out TIME SHUTTER. Even though there were too many things in the way and they themselves were too far from the doors, Eren could see all the flashing lights from within the building and screams of joy.

"Are you kidding, the fucking arcade?" Eren's face had split into a wide smile, his blood coursing faster than ever. A smirk resided on Levi's own face.

"So, did I pick well?"

"Fuck yeah!"

"Good, otherwise this would be kind of awkward. Come on." Levi walked with such ease, Eren couldn't understand it. The taller boy had a new bounce in every step, and it was only Levi's presence that stopped him from running forward. Though it felt like ten years had passed they finally made it to the arcade, and Eren felt like he was entering a whole new dimension as he took in the scene.

He'd never been to an arcade before- his parents believing that all the lights and surrounding violent games wouldn't be healthy for their children. Mikasa had the philosophy that video games should be played in the comfort of homes, and Armin just didn't like leaving the house to begin with. Connie and Sasha had claimed it as their date place as it was where they shared their first kiss, so he felt weird going with them. Anyone else, he felt wouldn't have a good enough time to actually spend the money. But then, with Levi...

"I never took you for an arcade person."Eren admitted, grabbing his wallet.

"I'm not, really." He said no more as he lead Eren to line up. Eren continued to look around, still amazed.

Almost every single light was neon- a range of purples and blues and greens and yellows.  It was blinding in the best way, and Eren was afraid he'd never see colours properly again after leaving. It wasn't like he was expecting- old games that were in stand formations where you put coins in. The machines were modern, with CGI and bright (and sometimes violent) images, fast moving pictures and graphics. The volume was at a high, from not only the handful of children dotted around but from also young adults walking around. There were shouts of terror and of anguish, from either completing levels or failing them. There were gunshots and balls hitting against plastic hoops and frames, and Eren even witnessed the clanging of rings around neon-glowing plastic bottles.  Tickets being dispensed overwhelmed Eren, and he watched wide-eyed as dozens upon dozens were deposited from machines.

Eren and Levi finally stepped up to the counter, and Eren's jaw dropped at the wall in front of them. Hundreds of boxes and toys and lollies and plushies sat upon shelves, all colours and shapes and sizes and variations of winnable objects. 

"Hi, can I please get a VIP card?"

"Sure. How much are you putting on it?"

"$70." Eren's eyes widened at Levi's words.

"Alright, paying by cash or card?"

"Card." 

"I'll just go get you a card." She said as she handed over the machine.

"Transfer me 20, okay? Do you still have my account number?"

"Levi, you really don't have to pay $50." He mumbled, head facing down as to hide his shock. "Like fuck this is only our first date- we don't even know what we are yet. I really think that-"

"Eren trust me, you'll thank me later. I'd do this even if this wasn't a date." Before Eren could argue- or question- further the girl returned with a blue card, a smile on her face. Eren grumbled to himself as he  put the money into Levi's account, and cringed as Levi put in his PIN.

"Thank you, enjoy your time." She smiled, handing back the receipt.

"Thanks." Levi pocketed the docket, leading Eren into the fray of games. 

"You really didn't need to, now I feel-"

"Shut up Eren. I wanted to. Now, have you even been to anything like this before?" 

"No, I don't think so."

"Alright so every game has a certain price. You swipe the card over a sensor thing, it deducts the cost of the game from the card, and you play the game. Depending on the game you get tickets, then you put the tickets in that machine over there," Levi pointed to a large yellow stand with bright white lights, "and you transfer the tickets onto the card. It's all digital."

"That's pretty cool." Eren breathed, taking the card tentatively from Levi's hand.

"Yep. Not what you were expecting?"

"Not one bit." He laughed, already looking around to find a game to play first.

'But not disappointing?' Eren's eyes drifted back to Levi. Though his face was set hard as stone, Eren could hear the uncertainty of his choice of the arcade in his voice. So Eren grabbed Levi's hand, and said.

"Not one bit. "

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eren spent the first ten minutes just running around the arcade, exploring each and every corner- every nook and cranny of the building. The lights made him feel hyper and alive, the noises identical from movies he'd seen and expectations he'd built up from them. The floor variated from wood to metal to soft fabrics and carpets, and Eren almost slipped over at the sudden changes in materials. Levi snorted every time Eren got over excited at small details, such as how the tickets were absorbed into the feeder.

"So, what game are we playing first?" Levi asked after Eren had finally decided his inspection was complete.

"That one.' Eren pointed over to the game closest to the counter. It was simple- using the controller that shot out lines of water, you had to hit the monsters on the screen in order to destroy them. The more hits you got, the more tickets you one. It was a game clearly aimed for younger kids, but Eren had been captivated by it from the start.

"Alright, if you say so." Levi smiled, and the two made their way over to the game. The seat was unnaturally low to the ground, and Eren felt that if it were any lower the'd be seated on the ground. It was cold- plastic that was strangely comfortable.  A smile instinctively absorbed every feature of his face as the colours washed over him- blues and pink and purples all in neon formed as every single thing in sight became diluted to the colours and flashing of the lights. Eren swiped the card across the small electronic panel that was between him and Levi hesitantly, glancing up to Levi in alarm when it beeped.

"You're fine, look-" Levi inclined his head, "It's just telling you the money went through."

"Okay. Cool." Eren grasped the handles, his fingers settling into the soft foam-like substance. The controller was mostly round in shape, the front converting into a cone where the water was shot out of. Soft purples and pinks illuminated from it.

"Calm down." Levi coaxed, laying a hand gently on Eren's thigh. Eren's face flared, heat spreading throughout his body despite the coldness of the seat. Suddenly the game and the sound of the arcade faded away until all that was left was Levi and that damned hand-

Then the beeping of the game brought Eren's senses back, and drew Levi's hand away. Eren would have protested in some form if multiple monsters hadn't appeared on the screen in front of him. Eren slammed his hand on the start button in panic, and right away water streamed out of his controller. He laughed at the sudden mass of water, stray molecules shooting out towards his face. Levi chuckled beside him, shaking his controller from side to side. Eren did the same, aiming no where in particular. The graphics were surprisingly good, and the stretch of artificial grass in front of them soaked up the water. Out of nowhere the amount of water coming from Eren's controller doubled, causing him to let out a whoop of excitement. 

"What just happened?" He had to speak loudly over the gushing of water.

"You got the power-up, dipshit." Levi laughed, and for a moment Eren could have sworn his heart stopped. Eren let go completely of all direction and moved his controller from side to side faster, getting as many of the monsters as possible. The intensity of the water had caused so much excess water as it rebounded off the screen, that it had begun to waft out of the game and back into the boys' faces. It was a refreshing, cooling touch that Eren didn't mind at all.  _I'd hate to imagine how much water this is wasting._ Eventually the power up ran out, and his water returned to normal density. The game continued for a few more minutes before they finally completed the level, and the option to keep playing came up.

"You wanna keep playing? Levi asked gesturing at the card that Eren had put in his pocket.

"I wanna try another one." Eren said, pushing the card further into his pocket. "If that's okay."

"Whatever suits you." Levi shrugged. Levi looked down at the small slot next to his leg, and watched as the number 7 flashed on the small screen. Eren looked to his own to see the number 12. A dozen tickets rolled out, red and yellow being the dominating colour with little bar codes on every individual tickets. Eren smiled, taking the tickets into his hands. Levi took his own, and stood out of the small booth-like game. Eren stood too quickly, forgetting how close to the ground they really were. He swayed for a moment before finding his grounding again. Levi led Eren over to the ticket collector. He fed the tickets into the machine via a small convayer-belt mechanism, and Eren watched in awe as they were quickly swallowed by the machine. In bright neon red the ticket count appeared. Eren fed in his own tickets, watching with growing excitement as the ticket number went up. Levi then scanned the card against a small screen, the beeping filling Eren's ears. Their total amount of tickets flashed for a moment before fading away in preparation for the next person.

"Aright, I picked the first game. It's your turn." Eren addressed Levi, smiling to replace the sun that had long since set.

"I really don't care what we play Eren."

"Perfect. then you'll have no problem picking a game."

"Eren-"

"Shut up and pick, we're wasting time." Eren whined, causing Levi to finally crack.

"Fine, um..." Levi grabbed Eren's hand once more, tugging him along. Eren managed to walk quickly enough that they were walking together, hand in hand. No one looked their way. 

The two came upon an air hockey table.

"Oh fuck yes. Great choice Levi." Eren released Levi's hand, regretting it the moment he did so. Levi swiped the card, moving around to his side of the table. Eren, as he did with every single game they came upon, stopped to inspect the table. The actual playing field was illuminated by an ice-like white, and though there weren't any apparent lights it was bright like sun-reflected snow. The edges were guarded by glass, though Eren figured it could have possibly been fancy-looking plastic. The scoreboard was split in two- one for home and one for away. Eren was in home with blue as his colour, with Levi being away and red for his colour. The puck popped out of a slit in the game, and Eren placed it on the field. He'd played the game on the Wii with Mikasa numerous times, but never had the opportunity to experience it in real life. Grabbing the sturdy yellow striker in front of him, Eren batted at the puck. It passed under the glass separating the two halves of the table, to which Levi bashed right back. It continued for a few goes, Eren not fully focusing on the aiming. Levi struck a shot that sent the puck going full speed into the goal. Eren let out a frustrated groan, setting it back on the table. He took a slower approach, doing his best to aim for the goal. With the puck moving so slow however, Levi was able to deflect it every time. Eventually he got too frustrated and reverted back to his idea of 'just-hit-it-and-pray-Levi-fucks-up-or-it-goes-in. 

Unfortunately, Levi must have had some sort of practice because for the next four goals, Levi scored every single one. Then Eren scored one, though he suspected Levi had let him win it out of fear of breaking his striker. When Eren scored a goal again however, he suspected something was amiss. He hit the striker with a smaller amount of force, watching where Levi's attention was focused. Eren was sure Levi was about to block it, when his gaze slipped and the puck went sliding into the goal with ease. Eren's heart jolted when he saw was Levi was looking at.

His eyes were sweeping up and down Eren's exposed arms. He would have thought nothing of it, but the fact that twice now Levi hadn't blocked easy shots... well, it was certainly adding up.

"Hey," Eren called across the table, gaining Levi's attention immediately, "Eyes up here." Levi glared at Eren's smugness, and when he retrieved the puck he placed it down rather harshly. Not giving Eren a chance to prepare, Levi slammed the puck into Eren's goal.  _Goddammit, shouldn't have said anything._ From then on, Levi scored every single shot he aimed for, winning within a few minutes. Eren laughed when he saw the glare still on the shorter male's face. Seeing as the game didn't have a ticket dispenser, Eren made his way around the table to stand at Levi's side. He stuck out a hand, smirk on his face.

"Good game, I didn't expect you to be so good."

"Shut the fuck up." Levi rolled his eyes, taking Eren's hand with a smile nonetheless. 

"You know, instead of just staring, you could have just asked-"

"I think you'll be a lot more interested in a certain game behind us than anything you were just about to suggest." Levi cut him off. Eren turned his head curiously, and laughed when he saw it.

A dance dance evolution game sat, waiting.

"I think for once, you're right about that." Eren bounded over, looking at the flashing colours that danced along the screen.

"How do we do multiplayer?" Eren asked, having not been able to find a second scanning-screen.

"I don't wanna play. You go for it though." Levi leaned against the back stand. Eren pouted.

"What, no, come on you  _have_ to play. Otherwise I'll tell Hanji that you did it but missed every single one."

"You wouldn't fucking dare."

"Wouldn't I?" Eren taunted. The two stared each other fr a long moment, the background music playing faintly in the background.

"Fine." Levi grunted, taking the card from Eren's hand. He scanned the card, activated the first player, then scanned it again activating a second player for his own attendance. Eren hummed in contempt, taking up his mantle. They picked a song (though through much bickering) and finally began the game. They chose to go on easy mode-not wanting to make a terrible mistake. The music video for the song they had selected, Injection Rejection, began to play across the screen. The colours were bright, and the quality of surprisingly good. The first beat came up- top left, which both Eren and Levi managed to get a 'perfect' for. The metal lit up bright red as they hit the note, as did every other. The front two lit up red while the back two lit up blue. Eren's suspicions of Levi not being the best at the game were confirmed as he became slower and clunkier with his movements, letting out little swear words here and there where he got a 'poor'. Eren tried his best not to laugh, but every once in a while he let it slip. Levi tipped him over slightly, causing the brunet to accumulate a series of misses and poors. Soon enough the beat and the lyrics became too fast and too blurred for even Eren to keep up, and he wanted nothing more than the game to end so too could his suffering. It did, and Eren groaned loudly when a large 'F' appeared on the screen.

"I told you to not make me play." Levi laughed, leaning against the stand to face Eren.

"Well, it was a team effort." Eren joked. "I think that we should totally go again, but on-" Levi stepped forward and pressed his lips to Eren's, silencing the boy. Eren responded immediately, eyes closing and arms going slack. His train of thought completely derailed, and his senses were debunked. Levi wrapped his arms around Eren's waist, pulling him ever closer. Then just as quick as it began it was over, leaving Eren wanting more. He stared mouth agape at Levi, whose face was unreadable.

"After that shit show, I know just the game." Levi slipped away into the fray of games, and Eren had no choice but to follow him, half blinded by the kiss. He stumbled his way through, and laughed when he saw the game Levi was standing by.

It was a wall, split in half- one side blaring bright blue lights and the other blaring red. Placed across the wall were buttons of the sides' respected colour, where you would slap each button as it lit up. The more buttons you hit, the more points you got an the more tickets you earned. Levi had already taken the red side, scanning the card. Eren hadn't even noticed Levi take it out of his pocket. Levi scanned for Eren, and so the game began.

It blurred by, the sound of hands against plastic and the small success noises filling each of his sensors. The game didn't last too long, and Eren got 20 tickets while Levi got 35.

"Jesus, that game really did make you angry didn't it?" Eren exclaimed, tugging the tickets out of the dispenser.

"Why do you think I picked this game?"Eren shook his head, then looked at Levi for a moment. The red in the light it up his features, high lighting his pale skin. He was beautiful, he really was- and for that night, even  if it would only ever turn out to be that one night, Levi was his. So Eren grabbed Levi by the hand, and pulled him through the building. Eren located a corner he'd seen earlier, and began walking backwards into the corner while dragging Levi along. He wrapped his arms around Levi's waist, bringing the boy to rest up against his body. He wanted no space between them- and he wasn't afraid to hide that want. He didn't do anything for a moment- not sure how Levi wold react to the situation. Levi looked at him for a moment before narrowing his eyes. Eren went to retract his arms, both froze when Levi leaned in.

Their lips touched, and Eren smiled at the familiarity of the touch. Levi's arms snakes up around Eren's neck, the both of  them sinking into the embrace. Their lips moved slowly, and though Eren had completely given everything he had to the kiss, he was still wary of any people walking past. He slid his hand under the base of Levi's shirt ever so gently, moving slowly enough that if Levi felt uncomfortable he could pull away. The boy responded however, wrapping his hands in Eren's hair. 

Eren didn't know how much time had passed, because all that mattered was Levi and how he felt and how he smelt and the harsh breaths coming from him. Eren himself began to tremble- falling prey to the symptoms of kissing for a prolonged amount of time. Lvi pulled away suddenly, jerking out of Eren's grasp. He panted, looking at Eren with a smile that made something blossom in his stomach. He couldn't find his voice, so relied on his eyes to do the talking. Levi wordlessly grabbed Eren's hand, and dragged him out into the game section once more.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The two boys held hands a lot more often, and some kisses were even stolen between the moments of playing games. They replayed air-hockey, tossed rings around bottles and even took a go in the racing game where the cars jerked and stuttered and moved in all different directions. Eventually the night wound down to a close, the time switching to 9:30 and the money running low on the card.

Eren picked up a pony plushie, waving it in Levi's face.

"Look, we can get a mighty steed for Carl."

"No, then he'll know we went to the arcade without him." Levi joked, picking up a box from a higher shelf. "I suggest a moon hopper.'

"That is tempting, but I don't think we have enough tickets."

"That sucks." Levi frowned, putting the box back. In the end the pair decided on a cute hedgehog plushie, agreeing to call it Arthur. They came to the conclusion that they would give it with Isabel, as she'd been complaining to Levi that he never took her anywhere to do anything fun. The two got Arthur and left, making it back to Levi's house just before ten.

The two sat in the car for a few minutes, saying nothing. They just let the music play, as well as the memories of the night in their minds. 

"Well, I better get going." Eren said, clasping his hands together. "Mum won't be happy if I'm too late."

"Are you sure you don't wanna come in for a bit? Or just stay the night? It'd save you driving past ten."

"I don't have any of my stuff."

"So?" Levi shrugged. "You can borrow some of my clothes, or Farlan's. Not that you have to stay, it was just an offer." Eren looked at Levi again, taking in his features. He wanted to, he really really did..

"I'll stay the night next time. I just...'

"Yeah, no, sure. All goods." Levi rushed, catching on to Eren's meaning immediately.

It was their first date, they didn't know what they were. 

_Playing it safe, that's what we're doing._

The two left the car, Levi locking it behind them. Levi walked Eren over to his car, Arthur the hedgehog in his arms. Eren turned, placing his hands on Levi's hips.

"Thank you for tonight, it was amazing."

"I'm just glad you enjoyed it." Levi chuckled, resting his hands over Eren's.

"Mmm, I really did." They stood like that for a while, neither really wanting to leave the others' presence. Levi titled his head and kissed Eren sweetly. He then stepped back, waving goodbye.

"Drive safe- I'll text you later. Probably a picture of Izzy's face when she sees Arthur."

"Okay," Eren laughed. He watched as Levi made his way back into the house, not looking behind him again. Eren leaned against the hood of his car, looking up at the sky.

He was thankful he'd brought his jacket in the car, because it was going o be a cold drive back home.  


End file.
